Change an inevitable part of life, Travis' future Published May 2, 2008 By Chief Master Sgt. Michael Williams 60th Air Mobility Wing commander TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- During our visit to meet with our California Congressional members and staff on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., last week, Chief Williams and I faced an interesting challenge. Given that we would only have 30 minutes in each member's office, how could we share with them all of the great things our Airmen, families and communities are doing that support Team Travis' large and full spectrum of missions? We talked fast ... really fast! We found ourselves flowing together all of the significant accomplishments that you all have achieved since our last visit to Capitol Hill, as well as highlighting the bright future that lies ahead in most areas. We discussed last year's more than $200 million in construction projects and base improvements that continue to bolster the long-term readiness and viability of our global air mobility mission. They were pleased to hear that our upcoming housing privatization project will provide quality homes for our families and that our Airmen and Family programs to care for those deploying and returning from overseas duty are up and running well. As we left each staff member, Chief and I thanked them for their strong support over the years and asked that they ensure upcoming legislation continues to focus on providing quality care for our families as well as maintaining readiness for our Airmen. Each one, especially Congresswoman Tauscher, in whose district Travis is located, expressed their sincere appreciation for the outstanding contributions our entire team, active duty, Reserve and civilian are making for our national defense. It's a very impressive array of contributions when you step back and think about it; our vision and hard work have paid off! Yesterday I was reminded of these base improvements as a very large dump truck pulled out in front of me on Travis Boulevard. The truck spewed big plumes of exhaust as the driver shifted gears to get the heavy load of rubble moving. That rubble was once Dormitory 1328, the old Korean War-era building that was home to members of the 60th Aerial Port Squadron when Chief and I arrived here two years ago. The facility needed to go, as it was unsuitable for our Airmen! Just like the old housing you see being torn down around the base, these too were unsuitable for our families. It's taken a long time to get these positive changes in motion, but it's been worth the effort. Many thanks go to Lt. Col. Scott Hoover and his civil engineer pros who worked extremely hard to make this forward progress all possible. It took vision and hard work to secure the millions of dollars in funding to make this happen. As we look forward to the next few years, this same vision and hard work will be even more important. Our Air Force, along with the entire Department of Defense, will be making some significant transformations as we readjust our posture to ensure success in the Global War on Terrorism and other mission areas. Even corporate America is currently awash in a sea of change as the impacts of globalization force massive restructuring, re-education and often a complete redefinition of what it takes to be successful in a very competitive world. Many things we see here at Travis will change as well, which is not bad by any stretch of the imagination. Let's ensure we continue to set a clear vision of our future, where we want to be both personally and professionally, and continue to dedicate our efforts and hard work on obtaining that desired future state. We are a highly successful and impressive Air Mobility Team -- let's challenge ourselves to be even better!