39th IOS sergeant wins Space Command Instructor of the Year award

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Scott McNabb
  • 24th Air Force Public Affairs
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. --  A senior non-commissioned officer recently garnered top Air Force Space Command honors for his work as an instructor with the 39th Information Operations Squadron.

Master Sgt. Jason Slaymaker didn't call his wife right after he found out he was named best instructor in Space Command because her news was even better.

"I would have called my wife with news of this magnitude, however, she'd just told me less than an hour previous to the award announcement that we were expecting our second child -something that we never thought would happen," he said. "I did tell her when I got home that afternoon, and that is what I would call the culmination of a very good day for us."

Slaymaker began instructing in 2004 at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, as a technical training instructor, but it was 2000 when he was first recognized for his potential as an instructor. Slaymaker inherited a senior airman who scored a record low on her Career Development Course end of course exam. Instead of faulting the Airman, he took it upon himself to become a better teacher.

"This is kind of when the light bulb came on for me. During our initial study sessions, I immediately recognized that not only was I boring to death this poor Airman, but real learning wasn't occurring just reading out of a book," he said. "So, gradually I started associating facts with silly real-life comparisons and soon started equating answers with mnemonics, poems, or whatever seemed appropriate to get that data up into her 'grey matter.' It turned out to be great fun during those subsequent study sessions. When that same Airman scored in the mid-80's on her re-take three months later, it started a chain reaction that began when it caught the attention of, then division superintendent, Chief Master Sgt. (ret.) Ronald "JJ" Graham and upon his recommendation, I became an instructor. That has truly led me to where I am today."

These days, Slaymaker enjoys being with the 39th IOS. He volunteered to be a part of the unit because he wanted the position of flight chief of standards and evaluation.

"Now that I have this position, I have to hand it to my previous and current mentors who have truly set me up for success here," he said. "The mission here of Air Force information operations and cyber field training is understood, but it's our personnel who refuse to fail and continually do amazing things under extraordinary circumstances that I continue to push forward with and will always remember long after I'm gone."

He has no plans on walking away from instructing any time soon. Slaymaker said if he were to say he does the job just because he loves it, that wouldn't do justice to the passion he feels for teaching.

"I too enjoy watching the light bulb going off in so many different ways," he explained. "Seeing the non-verbal half-smile and head-nod when a student is really buying into what is being shown to them. Hearing the, 'Oh!' in the middle of a perfectly quiet classroom when giving a performance evaluation and knowing that they've finally got it. Seeing a student cover their face in laughter when they receive what I call a 'golden nugget' by equating a fact or system to a mnemonic, putting it up on the whiteboard for everyone to see, and then watching the, 'How did he ever come up with that!?' look on their faces. It's truly fulfilling not only in the classroom, but now in mentoring junior non-commissioned officers and company grade officers."

Slaymaker said he couldn't have accomplished this without his family, role models, past and current mentors.