TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – “This nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.”
Last week was the 58th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s address to a joint session of Congress. On May 25, 1961, just four months into his presidency, this wasn’t just any address.
He sought to calm fears and instill confidence in a nation reeling from technological and diplomatic successes by our strategic enemy, the Soviet Union. The Soviets were not only the first to orbit our planet with a satellite, but were also the first to launch a man into space. Two feats that demonstrated a clear advantage.
After determining, as Kennedy put it, “Where we are strong and where we are not, where we may succeed and where we may not,” he established a bold vision designed to inspire a country and its citizens to achieve impossible feats.
This vision was never really about footprints on the moon. It was about enlisting our best and brightest to attain the unimaginable and to demonstrate the power of a free world.
Kennedy’s vision successfully led to a moon landing in 1969, but ultimately, it established a technological advantage that led to the end of the Soviet Union just 20 years later.
Similar bold visions are inspiring today’s generation.
Team Travis recently hosted a team from SpaceX. It’s a team working to fulfill the bold vision of delivering people and cargo to Mars. That’s right, as in the planet. There are no doubt many reading this that believe this can’t be serious. Trust me, it is.
You’re likely wondering, why were they visiting Travis? Well, the same technology that could deliver people and cargo to Mars also enables rapid delivery anywhere on Earth, and according to them, they wanted to learn from the current best and brightest who deliver anything to anywhere at a moment’s notice.
As we met with this brilliant team of engineers and innovators it was apparent they are 100% bought into the vision and believe they will overcome all hurdles to solve the hardest problems. I have no doubt they will succeed.
The visit left me impressed with their talent, focus and motivation. But more than anything, it showed me the power and need for a bold vision.
In my 20 years in the Air Force, I’ve seen equally impressive talent. When empowered and focused on the right problem, Airmen accomplish amazing feats. Doing so generates an infectious energy that Airmen are drawn to.
In a time when we are challenged to retain our talent, perhaps our vision isn’t bold enough. Could it be that our best and brightest are gravitating toward enterprises that offer greater potential of real change? Pursuits that positively affect our communities, cities, nation or our planet?
Gen. David Goldfein, Air Force Chief of Staff, recently challenged incoming wing and group commanders to make change, saying he doesn’t hire commanders to tread water. It was a fundamental call to make change and improve our units and our service. To envision a better future and go after it.
Some will doubt the power or necessity of a bold vision, instead preferring to focus on the processes that ensure the here and now. While we absolutely need to be successful today and tomorrow, a bold vision is about inspiring the innovators, change agents, and futurists who are frustrated with the here and now, and gravitate toward how things could and should be.
Our service often holds up Brig. Gen. William “Billy” Mitchell for his revolutionary ideas about airpower. He wasn’t inspired to simply solve the tactical flaws of trench warfare. He was inspired by a bold vision to fundamentally change warfare from a tactical struggle on the ground to a strategic imposition of our nation’s will through the air. His vision indelibly changed warfare.
Every organization has its proverbial trench warfare. Does your vision inspire Airmen to strategically improve the organization or are you simply enlisting Airmen to be the next wave of recruits within your trench? In our here and now, your Airmen will not stay in the trench for long.
I think we all agree that our mission to project American power is indispensable, but that by itself doesn’t make it inspirational. That’s the role of leadership. It’s our role to inspire and empower our Airmen with a vision of the future.
Be bold and undeterred by those that only find the impossible. Seek to inspire those that have a bold vision and only see all that is possible. For those Airmen, the future must be an amazing place. I can’t wait to meet them there.