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Leadership is not an innate quality and there is no true recipe
for success in regards to it. Leadership takes on many forms.
Leadership has no preferred race, religion, ethnicity nor
gender.
Blind to any categorization, Lt. Col. Nicole Roberts,
21st Security Forces Squadron commander, accelerated through the
enlisted and officer ranks while relying on a personable leadership
style she still uses to effectively lead her 214 Airmen here on
Peterson Air Force Base.
August 23, 2016 - U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Nicole Roberts, the 21st Security Forces Squadron commander, relies on a personable leadership style to effectively lead her 214 airmen at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. Roberts is affectionately known as “mama bear” around her squadron based on her reputation of always taking care of and protecting her troops.
(U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Dennis Hoffman) |
“I have been in the service for 26 years with 11
being in the Army,” said Roberts. “I began as enlisted Army
military police and then became a drill sergeant. Once I
reached sergeant first class, I was selected for Officer
Candidate School where I became an Army military police
officer.”
As the opportunities arose in Roberts'
career to progress herself and her leadership, she took full
advantage of them. She learned from her enlisted experience
and her fellow brothers and sisters in arms and stored that
knowledge knowing it would be beneficial to have as an
officer in the future, Roberts said.
After a couple
years of soaking up the experience as an officer, Roberts
met her future husband. He was in the Air Force and Roberts
had heard great things of the Air Force so she decided to
transfer between the two services.
“I did what is
known as an inter-service transfer,” said Roberts. “There
was no break in service – one day I was in the Army and the
next day I was in the Air Force. It took me awhile to handle
the learning curve, but I have been lucky enough and blessed
enough that in my entire experience in the Air Force, I have
had some great leaders.”
Looking back, Roberts said
transitioning to the Air Force was incredibly beneficial to
her. She gained valuable mentorship and her leadership
style, though already developed, became more refined.
“There is no magic to it,” said Roberts. “Being enlisted
for a very long time, I have learned to put my Airmen first.
I feel personally responsible for their welfare, safety and
training. Their loved ones entrust with me with their safety
and I really take that to heart. My Airmen are my heartbeat,
so I believe that if you love and care for your people, the
mission will take care of itself.”
Roberts said that
on her bad days, she heads to the gates to stand with, talk
and check on her Airmen. She gets a revitalized sense of her
duties and her responsibilities when she sees her defenders
working long hours in the heat and cold with smiles on their
face.
“She really makes it a point to let you know
she is there for you,” said Staff Sgt. Christopher Anderson,
21st SFS specialist. “She is one of the most supportive
leaders I have experienced in my six years of being in the
Air Force. I have been at the gate and she will come up to
me and take my scanner from me and make sure I am doing
well. She is a mother figure to all of us in the squadron
and we never want to do anything to disappoint her.”
It is with that style, Roberts lead the 21st SFS to multiple
wins in the Air Force Space Command medium-sized SFS
category but, she is quick to give credit to her Airmen and
her senior NCOs for leading the way. The success the
squadron has is a direct result of how well she and her team
work together, said Roberts.
With her teams and her
career field being predominantly male, Roberts' leadership
style has never succumbed to any negative criticism because
of her gender.
“I have been in a male-dominated
career field for so long that I overlook a lot of things in
that regarding my gender,” said Roberts. “In all honesty, I
think the only time my gender really defines me is that my
troops call me ‘Mama Bear' because my troops know that if
anyone messes with them, I'll break out the claws and have
their back.”
Leaving nothing to excuses, Roberts
embraces herself and her gender but believes that when she
dons her sage-green Airman Battle Uniform, she is an Airman
like everyone else she serves alongside fighting the same
fight.
“As a female, I have seen other females who
are pilots, cops and firemen – I have seen some phenomenal
females in action. I have always believed that if you work
hard and take care of your people, you will get every
opportunity that you are supposed to get and the Air Force
has done a great job at leveling the playing field for
everyone. Ever since I've been blue, I've been blessed.”
By U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Dennis Hoffman
Air Force News Service
Copyright 2016
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