In my 14 years in the Air Force as a paralegal, I have worked on the prosecution and defense sides of military justice.  The most challenging was my time spent as a defense paralegal.  Day after day, I met with clients who needed assistance with Letters of Counseling all the way up to those facing general court-martial.  Yes, some of the individuals were just not cut out to be Airmen and needed help transitioning into civilian life, but there were many that really needed some stern mentorship and guidance. 

The trend I saw was these Airmen lacked supervision or honest feedback.  I learned quickly that “sugar coating” was not the appropriate way to help rehabilitate these Airmen, but to candidly address their issues and provide a way to help them take responsibility for their actions and work on a way forward. 

Unfortunately, this is still a current trend.  In these days of technology, we have increased our dependence on electronic devices to communicate and decreased our utilization of interpersonal relationships.  This lack of face-to-face contact makes it easy to convey information, but harder to have the kind of deeper interactions necessary for good mentorship and feedback.  In the beginning it may not be easy, but with practice you will become more comfortable in those situations.  I have found Airmen generally want someone to help them address shortcomings before they become real problems or obstacles to their career and life goals.

Take a minute to ask yourself, “Are you ‘sugar coating’ your Airmen?  Do you get to know them?  Do you have open dialogue to provide critical feedback or do you hide behind your desk or your cell phone?”  The answer may be yes, no or even sort of.