314th Airlift Wing Goals
LITTLE ROCK AFB, Ark. --
In a previous article I shared my thoughts on the mission and vision for the 314th Airlift Wing. In this article, I want to give a brief description of the goals that support and enable our mission and vision.
The goals for the 314th Airlift Wing are: produce the world's most professional, highly-skilled combat crew members, accomplish our mission safely and effectively, develop professional Airmen and leaders, take care of Air Force family and represent our Air Force to our community, joint partners and allies.
Our first two goals are mission focused and promote our contribution to the Air Force and Air Education and Training Command missions. The next two focus on our people and families; if we take care of and develop our people, they will accomplish the mission. The last builds and nurtures relationships which make our Air Force stronger. Together these goals help us build a continuously improving, adaptive organization that is mission focused, develops leaders, nurtures our people and families and ultimately produces combat airlifters who will be successful in current and future operations.
Produce the world's most professional, highly-skilled combat crew members. We face an adaptive, thinking enemy and we must continually strive for excellence and perfection in every aspect of our training mission. Professionalism and technical skills are two sides to the same coin. We can have perfect skills but lack the professional judgment and discipline to use them appropriately. The success of our combat airlift forces depends on our commitment to our mission--every preflight, aircraft inspection, pre-brief, sortie and post flight demands 100 percent, 100 percent of the time.
Accomplish our mission safely and effectively. There is a difference between "being safe" versus internalizing Operational Risk Management. One is usually associated with an event the other permeates everything we do. We must develop the habit of using our brain and the tools--that's what risk management is--to make good decisions on and off duty, in the air and on the ground. We must speak up when we see anything that doesn't make sense and bring it to the right level so a decision can be made. It's not hard in concept, but it requires commitment, professionalism and leadership to make it work. Never forget that in World War II, we lost over 37,000 Airmen in noncombat accidents. We've come a long way, but we can never let up.
Develop professional Airmen and leaders. People are our most important asset and the focus of our first goal. We must be focused on people; not just to make them "feel good" in the short term, but to build them up and give them the skills to succeed long term. We are all training our replacements. If we really care about developing people, we will challenge them, expand their opportunities and get them out of their comfort zone--that's what growth is all about. The experiences I've had in my AF career which contributed the most to my professional development, were encouraged, directed or supported by my commanders or supervisors--I could not have done them on my own.
Take care of Air Force family. There are three areas in which we must succeed: 1) Take care of each other--be a good wingman. This means never leaving an Airman behind on the battlefield or in daily activities. 2) Take care of families. We have great family support programs that have grown over my career, but nothing can take the place of a visit, phone call, note or invitation from someone who cares. Key spouse programs aren't just for those who are deployed and each of us has a role to play--be someone who makes a difference in the life of our Air Force families! 3) Take care of yourself and your family. I believe in balance--spiritual, physical, personal and professional. We are going to work hard, but we'll also have some fun along the way.
Represent our Air Force to our community, joint partners and allies. Finally, we require others to be successful and must represent our Air Force to our community, joint partners and allies. The lifeblood of our Air Force comes from the support we receive from the American people. Every Airman must tell the Air Force story to family, friends and our local communities. Our success in joint and combined operations depends on the professionalism of our Airmen in representing Air Force core competencies and values.
These goals are essential building blocks for accomplishing the 314th Airlift Wing mission of training combat airlifters to fly, fight and win and accomplishing our vision of building the foundational skills and ethos required to overcome adversity and prevail on the modern battlefield. We are building metrics that will measure our progress in attaining them as we strive for excellence in all that we do.
Combat Airlift!
The goals for the 314th Airlift Wing are: produce the world's most professional, highly-skilled combat crew members, accomplish our mission safely and effectively, develop professional Airmen and leaders, take care of Air Force family and represent our Air Force to our community, joint partners and allies.
Our first two goals are mission focused and promote our contribution to the Air Force and Air Education and Training Command missions. The next two focus on our people and families; if we take care of and develop our people, they will accomplish the mission. The last builds and nurtures relationships which make our Air Force stronger. Together these goals help us build a continuously improving, adaptive organization that is mission focused, develops leaders, nurtures our people and families and ultimately produces combat airlifters who will be successful in current and future operations.
Produce the world's most professional, highly-skilled combat crew members. We face an adaptive, thinking enemy and we must continually strive for excellence and perfection in every aspect of our training mission. Professionalism and technical skills are two sides to the same coin. We can have perfect skills but lack the professional judgment and discipline to use them appropriately. The success of our combat airlift forces depends on our commitment to our mission--every preflight, aircraft inspection, pre-brief, sortie and post flight demands 100 percent, 100 percent of the time.
Accomplish our mission safely and effectively. There is a difference between "being safe" versus internalizing Operational Risk Management. One is usually associated with an event the other permeates everything we do. We must develop the habit of using our brain and the tools--that's what risk management is--to make good decisions on and off duty, in the air and on the ground. We must speak up when we see anything that doesn't make sense and bring it to the right level so a decision can be made. It's not hard in concept, but it requires commitment, professionalism and leadership to make it work. Never forget that in World War II, we lost over 37,000 Airmen in noncombat accidents. We've come a long way, but we can never let up.
Develop professional Airmen and leaders. People are our most important asset and the focus of our first goal. We must be focused on people; not just to make them "feel good" in the short term, but to build them up and give them the skills to succeed long term. We are all training our replacements. If we really care about developing people, we will challenge them, expand their opportunities and get them out of their comfort zone--that's what growth is all about. The experiences I've had in my AF career which contributed the most to my professional development, were encouraged, directed or supported by my commanders or supervisors--I could not have done them on my own.
Take care of Air Force family. There are three areas in which we must succeed: 1) Take care of each other--be a good wingman. This means never leaving an Airman behind on the battlefield or in daily activities. 2) Take care of families. We have great family support programs that have grown over my career, but nothing can take the place of a visit, phone call, note or invitation from someone who cares. Key spouse programs aren't just for those who are deployed and each of us has a role to play--be someone who makes a difference in the life of our Air Force families! 3) Take care of yourself and your family. I believe in balance--spiritual, physical, personal and professional. We are going to work hard, but we'll also have some fun along the way.
Represent our Air Force to our community, joint partners and allies. Finally, we require others to be successful and must represent our Air Force to our community, joint partners and allies. The lifeblood of our Air Force comes from the support we receive from the American people. Every Airman must tell the Air Force story to family, friends and our local communities. Our success in joint and combined operations depends on the professionalism of our Airmen in representing Air Force core competencies and values.
These goals are essential building blocks for accomplishing the 314th Airlift Wing mission of training combat airlifters to fly, fight and win and accomplishing our vision of building the foundational skills and ethos required to overcome adversity and prevail on the modern battlefield. We are building metrics that will measure our progress in attaining them as we strive for excellence in all that we do.
Combat Airlift!
