Time to get busy

  • Published
  • By Col. "Tip" Stinnette
  • 39th Air Base Wing Commander
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey --  The only place that success comes before work is in the dictionary. Amazing results occur when people set a course, pursue it with relentless passion and keep their mind focused on the desired result. For Incirlik, the desired result is a win in our September inspection. Now is the time to buckle-up, strap it on, and apply ourselves with relentless passion along the course we have set for success. In a word, it is time to "work!"

We are now less than two months out from the inspection with two major local inspections between now and then. Time is the scarcest resource and unless it is managed nothing else can be managed. Time is the inexplicable raw material of success and the great dividing line between success and failure can be expressed in five words: "I did not have time." We have time and to make good use of it, we must know what is most important and then give it our all! Of first importance is addressing our deficiencies from the staff assistance visit ... technical operations, command and control knowledge, and entry control procedures are among the areas that we must focus on. Each work center across the installation should know exactly what they need to work on and should have a prioritized plan to 'get-r-done.'

First place is the only place to be in our business. Vince Lombardi said, "The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination ... to apply the best of ourselves to the task at hand."

We have taken the first step in that direction ... we have arrived alive from the four-day weekend. I would like to thank each and every one of you for applying the tenants of off-duty risk management to get to this point. We are now in the heart of the envelope for the 101 Critical Days of Summer. It is hot, we have the second half of the campaign to go, and we can not afford to bend or break anyone. Hydrate, team up, and stay focused ... our first sergeant corps is committed to ensuring we do!

"It is when you are working and moving toward an accomplishment that brings you respect and dignity that you are succeeding."

Fix bayonets and get busy making good things happen to ensure freedom's future!