Lets get back to basics

  • Published
  • By Chief Master Sgt. Michael Williams
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing command chief
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Change, change and more change has been a consistent theme within our great Air Force; the most recent being the Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Air Force resigning. The announcement of their resignation came as an astonishing surprise to everyone. As you can imagine, their resignation ignited the rumor mills. Why in the mist of downsizing, Global War on Terrorism and transformation do you believe our top leadership relinquished their positions?

Well as awesome and incredible as we (Air Force) are, we do have our short comings. We are recognized as the world's most formidable Air and Space Force ever assembled; yet, we can't believe the hype and sit on our laurels, but that's exactly what we did ...we became complacent. Our top two Airmen (SECAF and CSAF) accepted responsibilities and held themselves accountable for our short comings ... those two, well respected leaders, accomplished a great deal for our institution during the past two years.

Leaders lead and accept responsibility when things go right but more importantly, they accept responsibility when things go wrong: flying nuclear warheads over American soil without knowledge, failing a subsequent Nuclear Security Inspection, shipping incorrect merchandise to a foreign country and several additional lapses in attention to detail demanded a change. And, as such, our top two leaders decided to step down ... as great as we are, we failed our leaders. There's no need to point the blame as to who's responsible for the lack in checklist discipline and overall oversight; believe me, there's enough blame to go around. We as an institution failed them; we began to believe our own hype and now there's a call for us to return to the "basics."

Now some of you may believe our unfortunate failures have absolutely nothing to do with the "basics," but more to do with: reducing the force to 316,000, flying more missions, deploying more than ever and additional duties holding firm ...yes, that's quite a load. I don't believe those challenges alone caused us to take our eye of the ball, fail to focus on the mission and allow some very embarrassing events to occur. Therefore, let's focus on the "basics". What are the basics? My definition of the basics is simply adhering to our customs and courtesies and complying with standards. For me it boils down to excellence and pride. Pride in knowing who you are and what you stand for. You are an American Airman that has answered your nations call and you represent an institution with a proud heritage, a tradition of honor and a legacy of valor. That's who you are and you stand for freedom and justice. Adhering to our customs and courtesies must be of the utmost importance to us all because we are American Airmen.

Adhering to the standards equates to excellence. Excellence is one of the three pillars that define who we are as an institution. Excellence is nothing more than caring more than others think is wise, risking more than others think is safe, dreaming more than others think is practical and expecting more than others think is possible. Take pride in who you are, care about what you represent and above all strive for excellence in all that you do.

Let's get back to the basics of who we are as an institution; don't accept mediocrity and don't turn a blind eye to others' shortcomings. As always, have a great weekend, be safe, make responsible choices and I'll see you around campus.