CGOC to hold elections for new council leadership Published Aug. 5, 2009 By 1st Lt. Bryan Bouchard 18th Wing Public Affairs KADENA AIR BASE, Japan -- With the election of new council officers this month, the Kadena CGOC is looking for a few good lieutenants or captains, or even ensigns possibly. "CGOC stands for Company Grade Officer Council," said Capt. David Hansell of the 733rd Air Mobility Squadron and current president of the CGOC here. "We're not specific to any one service; we do have sister service members." According to Col. Lenny Richoux, 18th Wing vice commander, he worked with Army, Navy, and Marine Corps officers on the Joint Staff who taught him about how leaders are built in their services. "I learned that outside of the Air Force rated community, officers are afforded tremendous leadership opportunities much sooner than the Air Force rated community experiences," he said. "Get involved with the CGOC - take a look at what other CGOs right here on Kadena are doing to make us a winning team." The organization's charter is to promote professional development, base support, community service, camaraderie and esprit-de-corps, Captain Hansell said. To do this, the group meets regularly and participates in off-base visits for community activities such as teaching English, clean-up and supports various functions and events. But like other organizations with military ties, the CGOC cannot function without strong leadership. This month, the CGOC will be holding elections to find those individuals who will take the reins of the council and continue to point them in the right direction. According to Captain Hansell, these selected people will be charged "to promote the development of CGOs through a geographical regional structure system, maintain CGO participation through recruitment and retention and advocate CGO issues. "This is your chance to take the CGOC in a new direction and provide Kadena's CGOs with various volunteer, mentorship and leadership opportunities," he said. These opportunities are crucial in the development of officers, according to Colonel Richoux. "At some point in every officers' career, you will be asked to accept responsibility for a task that you were never trained to perform as a CGO," he said. "This happens faster than most people realize. It pays huge dividends to both you and the Air Force to start to learn, early on, what the rest of the Air Force does to accomplish our mission." While not an official military organization, this council of junior grade military officers volunteers its off-duty time to give back to the base and community, Captain Hansell said. Each base has its own local CGOC organization, which in turn falls under one of the five regional CGOCs that combine to form the National CGOC. The regional CGOC for Kadena is PACAF. "We just attended the CGOC PACAF conference in Seoul Korea, where we won the CGOC of 4th Quarter and 2008. In fact, one of our own, 2nd Lt. Yara Khalil, was named CGO of the year," Captain Hansell said. The CGOC meets every third Tuesday of the month at 11:30 a.m. The next meeting is scheduled for Aug. 18 at the Officers' Club. CGOs who are interested in any of the following positions, please send an email with name, rank, unit, and the desired position to david.hansell@kadena.af.mil no later than Aug. 11 at 3 p.m. For more information about the CGOC here, go to the Air Force Knowledge Now site on the Air Force Portal and type "Kadena CGOC" into the CoP links search.