Ropes course fondly remembered at facilitators reunion

  • Published
  • By Shawn Jacobs
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. --  The official name was AEDC Teamworks Adventure.

But most folks on base probably knew it as the "Ropes Course" and, in the early 1990s, it may have contributed as much to the concept of Team AEDC as anything on base.

Spurred by Test Systems Division Director Ron Polce's upcoming retirement Sept. 2, Polce and a number of other former facilitators of the Ropes Course met Aug. 3 for a reunion. They reminisced about the enjoyment the course brought to them and its value to AEDC.

AEDC Teamworks Adventure courses, which were located in the woods across from the Gossick Leadership Center (GLC), used a mix of warm-ups, games, activities and initiatives to take individuals and groups out of the daily routine and into challenges that called for cooperation, trust, team building, risk taking and problem solving, according to Bob Truesdale, group lead in Aerospace Testing Alliance's (ATA) Space and Missiles Group and a former facilitator.

"It was a major thrust by the commander at that time and by the base in general to improve our ability to produce good work by being very team oriented," Truesdale said. "We had a three-part agreement ... about willingness to give 100 percent, to be accountable, to monitor and be monitored so that we made sure everybody was giving their best and was safe.

"Safety included both physical safety and emotional safety. You commit that you're not going back to the office and make fun of [someone] for the next two years because they couldn't climb something or do [some other activity]."

Truesdale said the course was excellent for groups of people who already worked together, but it was even better for employees who weren't normally part of the same work team.

"That was the best use of the ropes because you would take people newly assigned to the same project but with dissimilar backgrounds and bring them together, and they would problem solve and go through experiences for a day," he said. "That would help them understand what teaming is about: how to work with each other, how to respond to your strengths and my weaknesses and how to collectively do a better job."

Another former facilitator, Don Hervig, an engineer scientist in ATA's Technology Department, said he thinks the course was very worthwhile.

"The Ropes Course was a different way of learning," Hervig said. "I think most people learn better by experience, and there you were experiencing some challenges that are different from what we do here at work. It's not an engineering challenge, typically, but building up communication skills and learning to listen to other people - those are some of the things we would hope they would take back here to AEDC and improve their skills here at work."

Hervig doesn't doubt the course's lasting impact because he still bumps into people on base who speak of the activities with fondness. Many of the events, whether physical challenges or mental exercises, were designed to build confidence in employees.

AEDC Teamworks Adventure gained quite a reputation and eventually more groups from outside the base than on-base groups were using the course.

"I think some people brought youth groups out from their churches or something like that and those were on weekends," Truesdale said. "That wasn't paid time, but facilitators were gung-ho; we would have done it seven days a week if they'd let us. We didn't advertise it per se, but the leaders of the base who were interested in it talked about it and they had groups that got involved.

"I think the facilitators had as much fun as the people going through the course because we wanted them to succeed, but we also wanted them to win as much as they could through the process. I loved it. It was close to life-changing."

Sometime in the mid 1990s - for reasons that aren't readily known - the Ropes Course just sort of phased out. Its legacy, however, is securely ingrained in those who participated in it, which begs the question, "Could it be restored?"

Both Truesdale and Hervig think and hope so.

"I think Ron [Polce] feels like there's that chance," Truesdale said. "I think one of the things he wants to do is encourage leadership to think about it. Obviously, budgets are tight. Everything is different, but the teams still need to function as teams.

"I think the need's still there and I think it would be very good if we could do it. We have the energy. We have the people, and we have the interest."

Hervig said, while much has changed since the original course, most of the base's needs have remained the same, like the need for better communication skills, problem solving, leadership and team-building skills.

"It was fun to get together again and remember the good times we had out there," Hervig said. "I don't think the challenges of working together have changed much, so I think the benefits of having the course be held again would be good.

"It's very enjoyable to be an engineer and to work at AEDC, but it was also very enjoyable to go out in the woods and challenge people with things that looked insurmountable, but with teamwork, cooperation and trust they were able to accomplish a goal. Hopefully, they would take it back here with some of the confidence and trust that was gained and they would be able to improve their job skills."