MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- Chief and I would like to add another round of congratulations to our Outstanding Airmen of the Year nominees and winners. All of the wing performed very, very well in 2020 during very difficult circumstances; those who distinguished themselves as award nominees were truly exceptional. You should be very proud of yourselves, your wing is certainly very proud of you. I’d also like to thank the First Sergeants Council for putting on another great banquet and the Public Affairs Office for putting together a great video. Once again, First Sergeants leading the wing from the front! I can’t wait for an in person banquet next year.
All of our nominees are great examples of airmen who have decided to put in the work in order to improve and excel. Like any training NCO would do, they analyzed or assessed their current skill level and then charted out a plan for what needed to be accomplished to earn the next level. In the same way, aircrew planning a mission will analyze the training requirements, develop a plan to accomplish the training, brief the plan, execute the plan, debrief all the learning points which turn into training objectives for the next evolution. The folks that work in our IGI shop or those of you that are WITs or SAPMs will recognize this as the continual self-generating cycle of the Commander’s Inspection Program in our Air Force Inspection System. The key is to start with an honest assessment of the situation, only then can you make your future training plan.
One of the topics I spend much of my time on is thinking about how I can help the wing improve. Whether it’s generating combat capability or developing our airman, we should always be striving to improve and become more efficient. One way we assess ourselves as a wing is through our regular Defense Equal Opportunity Climate Surveys (DEOCS). We will be starting a new survey very soon, the most important part is that all of you participate. Like any survey, the more responses you have the greater the chance you accurately understand the situation.
Just like making your training plan above we need to know what we are doing well and identify where we can improve. The more people that respond with good, bad or indifferent comments the more accurate our summary report will be. I can tell you from experience, many airmen who think things are going well will not participate in the survey or won’t leave comments. We need EVERYONE to participate even if it’s just to comment that things are going well. Let’s set a goal for you and your wingmen around you to take a few minutes to complete the survey. Help us get better, together as a wing, by responding to the 908th Airlift Wing 2021 Defense Equal Opportunity Climate Survey. The better we get as a wing, the better we can focus on our priorities of delivering combat capability and developing our airmen. This year, more than ever, we all need to be laser focused on preparing our airmen for their deployments, don’t ever lose sight of that.