Perspectives of a rookie squadron commander

  • Published
  • By Col. Kyle Nunley
  • 60th Dental Squadron
It has been my pleasure and honor serving as interim commander to the outstanding men and women of the 60th Dental Squadron. When I started this job last September, I worried about how I would perform in a significant leadership position.

Having proudly served on active duty for almost 18 years now, I guess it was time to find out by moving from a flight to a squadron command position.

I remember one of our former squadron commanders telling me, "You just don't know what it's like to sit in the commander's office until you're there and experiencing all the activity."

Well, now I know.

To describe the way I feel, I like Lt. Col. Mike Hunter's humorous quote, modified for my job: "In real life I'm a periodontist, but on television, I play a squadron commander."

I wondered how I would perform in my new role. I thought, what do I do? Where do I begin? Am I prepared for this? Can I do this? How will I deal with being in the spotlight? How will I adjust to everyone looking to me for guidance and leadership and as a role model? How will I balance meetings, new taskings, deadlines, phone calls, planning, with my former routine of providing patient care?

Suddenly, I was going to be the supervisor and role model for the entire dental squadron! Could I just push a big "Easy" button to deal with everything?

You can imagine the thoughts and worries going through my mind in anticipation of this change. I remember learning early in my career that one of my dental specialty colleagues was the squadron commander at Travis.

As a young captain, I put him on a pedestal and was so impressed he had assumed that role in Air Mobility Command's largest and the Air Force's second largest dental clinic.

I wondered how he learned to be a commander and how in the world he dealt with all the demands. Who would have ever guessed I would be doing the same thing 10 years later?

As I prepare to PCS, I've listed some keys to success to pass along. I've tried to think of what I could pass on to my successor, but they're things that are applicable to everyone here at Team Travis:

1. Be aware of time management and balancing duty and off-duty time and providing patient care. At first, I felt I needed to be a "One-Second Manager" instead of a "One-Minute Manager." I felt there was never enough time for everything. I felt I needed to be like the man on television who puts the power of his high speed internet connection in his hands so he can clean up the kitchen at warp speed.

2. Treat people the way you want to be treated. It's so true that if you take care of and recognize your people, they'll take care of you.

3. Try and develop a regular routine, but realize you'll need to be flexible to deal with many surprises and short-notice taskings.

4. Your fellow leaders are invaluable mentors. They were rookies at one point in their career and are a welcome source of advice.

5. Physical fitness is a great outlet for "stress management." Take the time to tune your body, it will help your mind.

6. Realize there will be needed after-duty catch up time for important work.

7. Trust your staff to do their jobs. Don't micromanage and delegate where appropriate. Your Airmen want to help you and you need them to succeed.

8. Don't hide in your office. It's easy to get tied to your computer, but it's so important to be visible to your Airmen. Let them know you support them and are aware of their daily activities.

How did all this change me? It definitely gave me a new perspective on leadership and expectations, and how I respond to new and different challenges.

Hard work and new challenges can be stressful, but successful completion is so satisfying -- and helping others is extremely rewarding.