HomeNewsCommentariesDisplay

The equation for success

By Col. Craig Wills, 39th Air Base Wing commander / Published January 23, 2014

Col. Craig D. Wills is the commander of the 39th Air Base Wing at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. As commander, Colonel Wills is responsible for approximately 5,000 U.S. military, civilian and contractor personnel and the combat readiness of U.S. Air Force units at Incirlik and two geographically-separated units in Turkey.
PHOTO DETAILS  /   DOWNLOAD HI-RES 1 of 1

Col. Craig D. Wills is the commander of the 39th Air Base Wing at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. As commander, Colonel Wills is responsible for approximately 5,000 U.S. military, civilian and contractor personnel and the combat readiness of U.S. Air Force units at Incirlik and two geographically-separated units in Turkey.

PRINT | E-MAIL
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey -- You've probably heard the phrase, "Flexibility is the key to air power" more times than you'd like, and I just added one to the count. I'm here to tell you, as overused as it is, there's truth to it.

As we prepare to receive a Staff Assistance Visit team that is coming to inspect our processes and competency, our ability to receive feedback and make adjustments as required will be the key to our success.

There's nothing we do that we can't do better. That's not to say we don't already do things right or well, it simply means there's probably an even better way that some innovative Airman is going to find. Maybe that Airman will be you.

One of the best ways to learn if there's something wrong with what we're doing or if there's a better way to do it is to have an outside set of eyes observe, assess and provide feedback. That's exactly what the SAV team is coming here to do.

We should embrace this concept and seek feedback all the time. We should hunt down the SAV team members and ask them to let us know how we're doing. How can we possibly become better if we don't get any feedback? At the same time, we've got to be humble enough to listen.

You should take pride in ownership in all that you do. At the same time, don't be afraid to change direction, to pivot on a dime, if that's what's necessary to meet a higher standard, improve yourself or your process, or to better take care of our Airmen and families. You may have been working for months on some project that the SAV team looks at and assesses could be better. Don't take it personally if they find a way to improve your work! Pride is important, but humility is essential if we want to continue to be the world's greatest Air Force.

As the team arrives in the coming days, I encourage you to keep doing the great things you're doing. I expect the team will witness first-hand what makes the 39th Air Base Wing excellent, but I also expect them to find ways we can become even better. Thanks for everything you do for our great Air Force and our wing!