My first 100 days as command chief

I have served as your Command Chief for the past 100 days. Since taking this position, we have been through a lot. Unfortunately, we lost some Wing family members, withstood an emergency furlough, endured another continuing resolution, and honed our training. As expected, you stepped up to the challenge. You trained displaying professionalism and strength through it all.

In December, I started holding enlisted town hall meetings during drill weekends at different units. This is an opportunity for enlisted members to share their thoughts, challenges, questions, or concerns with me. So far, I have visited security forces and medical squadrons. When I get to your unit, please be prepared to share your ideas and concerns with me.

We have a robust year ahead that culminates with a Unit Effectiveness Inspection (UEI). As we continue to press into 2018, I want us to keep focused on the 2018 wing’s priorities:

• Keep your training requirements and work centers ready. We should not need large blocks of time to prepare for an inspection or deployment. Maintaining a practical level of readiness and compliance is key. 

• Recruit for vacancies, train quality Reserve Citizen Airmen, and retain our best warriors. This is a team effort. Everyone’s a recruiter. Go find members and bring them on through the Get1Now program. Help train our members properly. Support our members in achieving their goals, and highlight what it means to be a Reserve Citizen Airman.  

• As fiscal stewards, we must align requirements with fiscal year resources. Prioritize your list and channel your resource concerns. Most importantly, periodically follow up.

• Let us continue to maximize Airmen’s time. Wing senior leadership tries to streamline training, limit Commander’s Call agendas, and reduce extraneous tasks. Nevertheless, we cannot do this alone. We need everyone to use good time management, prioritize tasks and focus efforts on tasks with the biggest returns.  

• Finally, as we continue advancing toward the Air Force’s F-35 decision, it is important we strive to put our best foot forward. There has been and will continue to be a focus on our wing, especially if we become the first Air Force Reserve Wing to beddown the F-35A Lightning II. Members of Congress, general officers, and contractors will take greater interests in our Wing. Our part?  Focus on the job at hand, meet suspenses, hit our milestones, effectively improve our processes, and pass our inspection with excellence. All very achievable goals with the talent we have in the wing. 

   

  I would be remiss if I did not thank Col Jones for the opportunity to serve the Mighty 301st.

   

  I also want to thank each of you. Without your continued efforts and total dedication, we would not be where we are. This is truly an amazing fighter wing because of you.

   

I look forward to meeting each of you.