Embracing change

  • Published
  • By Maj. Shane Wehunt
  • 860th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron commander
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Over the past 27 years in the Air Force, I have seen my fair share of change.
 
From the days of the Military Airlift Command, Strategic Air Command and Tactical Air Command, the Consolidated Base Personnel Office, and Quality Air Force through Fatigues, Battle Dress Uniforms, Airmen Battle Uniform and all the variations of each, as well as the shift from Air Force Regulations to Air Force Instructions and Airmen Performance Reports to Enlisted Performance Reports, we have embraced a lot of change over the years.

Inevitably, every change in life, no matter how large or small, faces a level of resistance. That resistance is human nature, but why?

Why do we fight change to the bitter end? Is it simply fear of the unknown or a loss of control of one's environment? Or is it status, a loss of power in not having the answers or situational awareness in a particular field or topic?

The list of reasons why we resist change is as long as the list of changes themselves as each of us approach change from a different perspective and through a different lens of experience, knowledge and understanding. This presents a challenge when we are surrounded with such innovative potential in our Airmen. Innovation, by its very nature, generates change no matter the level of implementation.

Over the next few years, our Air Force will face significant changes, changes in how we evaluate subordinates and peers as well as what we expect from our officers with regard to education. We have redefined what we value as an institution and what we will invest in over the next several generations of Airmen.

The new Enlisted Evaluation System and the Unit Effectiveness Inspection format are two huge changes that we must embrace. These changes will cause many to resist. The changes will drive some to make career decisions and, as a result, they will make choices that will generate their own changes. We saw this when the Air Force Physical Fitness program was institutionalized within our evaluation system. Some were just not up for that change and elected to retire or just move on to the next chapter in their lives as a civilian.

The simple reality is this: As the Greek philosopher Heraclitus said around 475 BC, "The only constant in life is change." We can continue to resist the changes that lay before us as an Air Force or we can embrace them as leadership challenges and as opportunities to grow as an institution.

By resisting change, we take the risk of individually embarking on permanent solutions to temporary challenges. By embracing change, we seize the initiative and develop our Airmen with the future in mind, not the past. We exercise sound leadership and we take ownership of our destiny.

In the months and years ahead, within our Air Force and in your everyday lives, I encourage each of you to embrace change. View it not as a threat or an inconvenience but as an opportunity, an opportunity to set new goals and expectations as well as establish new standards for success. The philosophy will drive us and future generations of Airmen to new and amazing heights previously thought not possible.