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‘Thinking Out Loud’ at JB MDL

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Lauren Pitts
  • Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  The joint base mission is to enable mobility, training, and innovation while the TEDx mission is to spread ideas. The mission of TedxJBMDL was to combine the two.

Approximately 100 members from across the joint base filed into the Grace Peterson Hall at the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center here Oct. 8, 2015 for the TEDx themed "Thinking Out Loud." The TED Talk was labeled with an 'x' to show it was an independently organized TED event.

"Our intent was to expose the Joint Base to the TED concept and develop local voices of innovation at all levels," said Col. Cynthia Wong, 514th Mission Support Group commander and TedxJBMDL coordinator.

Videos of past TED discussions were weaved between live speakers who took the stage on the iconic TEDX circular red rug. Topics of discussion covered the future of robotics, resiliency, and the psychology of leadership.

Dr. James Hing of Naval Air Systems Command proposed the idea of robotics working on aircraft carriers, decreasing the Sailor manpower. "Imagine if we could reduce the number of Sailors necessary to run an aircraft carrier from six thousand down to fifty; or even to just one."

Retired Chief Master Sgt. Roy Wolowicz, from the 305th Air Mobility Wing, addressed the audience in his lecture titled, "Adversity is Not Your Enemy," going into detail on the importance of resiliency. Offering his own anecdotes of divorce, single parenthood, and crippling debt, Wolowicz highlighted the importance of spiritual and mental health.

"My best of times came from my worst of times," Wolowicz concluded.

Each speaker drew from personal experiences, including those of former Royal air force and professional pilot Peter Docker, who spoke about one of his own commanders. During his segment "How Great Leaders Inspire Action," he hit home with members of the audience by quoting the well-known saying "It's not what you do or say that people will remember about you, but how you made them feel."

Though each speaker and video had a diverse message, Wong said her goal was that participants in the audience were able to take away the big picture: to spark an interest to improve themselves and those around them.

"What we heard from our participants is that they were inspired to look at their work differently and find ways to improve how they do it," said Wong. "Whether it is a supervisor and how they interact with their subordinates or an engineer that has to deal with the politics of presenting a ground breaking idea."

Wong explained that she loved each speaker because they each contributed to the event in their own unique way. And while she is hopeful that another TEDx event is in the future for the joint base, the goal of combining the two mission statements was a success.

"Each speaker had the same perspective that I have," said Wong. "They want to inspire people to be the best that they can be."