Air Force's Influence On Adaptability

Change is something that is considered to be a constant in the military. Whether you are just starting off in your career or have been in long enough to retire, you will have witnessed change on numerous occasions. To just name a few, there will be changes to policies and procedures, duty schedules and job roles that will have a direct affect on your career or daily routine, which is why the Air Force has placed importance on adaptability. According to the lesson plan, adaptability is the ability to changed, unexpected, or ambiguous situations by actively seeking information and by demonstrating openness and support of different and innovative change ideas. When I first read about adaptability, I found this concept to be the most important to me. I have been in the Air Force now for over 10 years and have been to three different stateside locations along with a couple
There are three elements of adaptability which are cognitive flexibility, emotional flexibility and dispositional flexibility. Cognitive flexibility means having the ability to use different thinking strategies, mental frameworks into planning, decision making and day-to-day activities. Cognitive flexibility means coming up with alternate plans for executing any situation or scenario. In the eyes of a Defender, this can mean coming up with different routes to get to work during inclement weather, when certain roadways are shutdown or ways to approach a traffic stop or completing an arrest. Unexpected, changed or unclear situations occurs multiple times a day during a regular shift for a Security Forces member. If members of my organization do not apply the cognitive flexibility concept, they will be caught off guard and will not be affective in their duties and responsibilities. Defenders must understand how to scan the environment to identify changes, make sense out of a