Donald Kunkel ePortfolio

Introduction


My 24-year professional autobiography can be summed up as my nine-year active-duty career in the United States Air Force (USAF), and my current dual 15-year careers. I’m currently serving as a Senior Master Sergeant (E-8) in the Air National Guard (ANG), and I’m a full-time Senior Field Engineer/Manager for Raytheon Technologies working for the Air Force as a defense contractor. I started my professional career when I enlisted in the USAF in 1997, which was the catalyst to my successful careers and educational endeavors. (See Artifact I)

I scored high on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test, and this allowed me to become an Intelligence Analyst in the USAF. I was top of my Imagery Intelligence class in Texas before being stationed in northern California where my active-duty military career took off. I quickly became a subject matter expert (SME) in multispectral imagery, and I was hand-selected to become an intelligence instructor within the first two years of my career. I learned that I loved teaching and continued to hone my technical skills while developing as a leader, which allowed me to advance ahead of my peers. I became the non-commissioned officer in charge (NCOIC) of training for over 300 analysts. During this time, I double majored, receiving bachelor’s degrees in management studies and information systems management. I loved my active-duty military career, but I hit a crossroads after a deployment to Iraq in 2005 where I did some serious soul-searching. I had a tremendous amount of experience, I completed my education, I was married with three young kids, and I was ready to test the civilian sector.

I returned from Iraq in 2006, and I decided to separate from active duty and pursue my civilian career in the defense industry as an instructor for Goodrich Corporation, now Raytheon Technologies. I simultaneously started my ANG career to continue to serve, which I’ve been doing for the past 15 years in different capacities. Currently I’m the senior First Sergeant and help lead over 1200 Kansa Air National Guardsmen. I’m in a leadership position responsible for maintaining a mission ready force serving the 184th Intelligence Wing where I have supported cyber operations, intelligence operations, and mission support functions. Furthermore, I am a manager/site lead for Raytheon Technologies at McConnell AFB in Wichita, Kansas, which is my full-time career. (See Artifact II)

I enrolled in the Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree program from Southwestern College to continue to develop my skills as a manager and leader to provide me with a broader skill set to aid my military and civilian careers. I am a lifelong learner and love applying leadership concepts that I’ve acquired during my professional military education (PME) and previous academic career focusing on management and leadership concepts. Consequently, I felt that an MBA would help me understand business administration and better prepare me to see the bigger picture from a business sense. I loved business classes in high school and in college, but I wanted to be more well-rounded on marketing, globalization, finance, legal, human resources, and economics.

I take great pride in my education and will graduate from the Southwestern College MBA program with a 3.9 GPA. The MBA program has taught me valuable information, and I have been able to learn organizational behavior, human resource management, business law and ethics, financial management analysis and decision making, marketing strategies, global operations, knowledge-based decision making, global strategies, organizational dynamics and change, technology and innovation management, globalization and organization, and global economics. These classes have helped me learn how to start a business, manage resources, run operations, develop long-term business strategies, and pursue emerging markets in a global environment. (See Artifact III)

My future goals are both professionally and educationally motivated. I plan on continuing with my civilian career and becoming a business developer within my organization in the next five years. In addition, my military professional goal is to be promoted to Chief Master Sergeant (E-9) and have the privilege and the responsibility of running one of the intelligence or mission support group organizations. Both careers will utilize my years of leadership experience and educational background. Furthermore, I plan on continuing my education goal of pursuing my doctorate, and I’ve been researching programs in areas that I’m passionate about. I have evaluated doctorates in organizational development and organizational leadership programs with different universities. Lastly, I’d like to become an online adjunct instructor and get back to my teaching roots. This will allow me to use my experiences while continuing to develop and stay current with business and leadership trends.

Southwestern College’s MBA program has prepared me with the skills and knowledge needed to be an effective business administrator. I have learned amazing leadership and business concepts during this program, and I will present my reflections, artifacts, and future learning goals in my MBA ePortfolio to highlight my mastery of the MBA outcomes below:


  1. Integrate and apply key business concepts and theories to create and implement solutions for real world organizational challenges.

  2. Recognize the importance of developing shared goals for an organization’s financial and non- financial measurements, policies, and practices to meet strategic plans.

  3. Assess the value and importance of legal and ethical implications of conducting business in a global environment.

  4. Exhibit poise and confidence in verbal, interpersonal, and written communication.

  5. Demonstrate the ability to build and develop continuous learning opportunities in the key areas of business administration.