Mid-grade civilian career development webcasts begin Published Aug. 31, 2011 By Debbie Gildea Air Force Personnel, Services and Manpower Public Affairs RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) -- Webcasts developed to help GS-7 through GS-11 civilian Airmen plan and manage their careers will be held at various dates and times through Oct. 6. Originally slated for June, the GS-7 through GS-11 webcasts were rescheduled to help prevent login problems "This is our largest civilian Airmen population," said Loretta Brown, the leadership development program office chief. "We want to make sure every interested member is able to sit in on the webcast and take advantage of this critical career information, but we were concerned that the host site would not accommodate such a large number of participants." Sessions have been earmarked for eligible civilians based on command. Every session will include such topics as planning for the next job, how education affects careers, and more. The webcast series illustrates the Air Force's commitment to developing Airmen, Brown explained. "The Air Force deliberately develops all Airmen to ensure they are able to fully contribute to the mission and achieve their own career goals," Brown said. "These webcasts will help civilian Airmen understand their growth options and enable them to plan their careers." Civilian institutional development programs exist at every leadership level in a "continuum of learning," created in 2009, to ensure civilians have opportunities to achieve necessary proficiency levels, officials said. In support of that continuum, the webcasts will focus specifically on GS-7 through GS-11 employees. Participants cand find specific audience webcast dates and times on the Air Force Portal by clicking on the "Life and Career" tab, followed by the "Career" tab and finally the "Civilian Employees" tab. Employees are asked to log in only on their unit's date and time, and supervisors are encouraged to listen in so that they are able to support their employees' development plans. Subject matter experts will be online to provide real-time answers to questions during both webcasts. "We also encourage people to gather in larger groups in a conference room or office area and log in on one computer to alleviate congestion and enable as many people as possible to participate in the webcast," Brown said. To join the webcast, participants must go to https://connect.dco.dod.mil/dpi. Those people registered with Defense Connect Online will use their user names and passwords to log in, but participants can log in as guests as well. Login access will be available 60 minutes prior to each webcast. Logging in during the webcast increases the possibility of the webcast falling off line, so participants are asked to log in before the webcast begins. Those who log in as guests must provide their names and bases to be invited to the session. Slides will be available by 8 a.m. the day of the webcast at https://gum-crm.csd.disa.mil/app/answers/detail/a_id/12998/kw/DCO%20Webcast/r_id/100169. Click on the 2011 webcast/webinars tab under the civilian webcast and webinars section. Some computers may not run the DCO program, which requires Adobe® Flash Player 8. To ensure they have access, participants should test their configuration at https://connect.dco.dod.mil/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm.