Commentary: Mission, vision statements guide wing into ORI

  • Published
  • By Brig. Gen. Bruce Miller
  • 301st Fighter Wing Commander
NAS FT WORTH JRB, TEXAS --  A few months ago, senior leaders of the wing and I sat down to a strategic-planning session to map out the journey the wing will take for the next five years.

Like any journey, we needed the tools to keep us going in the right direction - in this case we needed mission and vision statements to serve as our "compass, map and GPS."

The mission and vision statements needed to reflect the reality of today's Air Force Reserve, which is a lot different than the Air Force Reserve of the 1990s. These two statements would serve us by providing direction as we charted the wing's course for the next five years.

The new mission statement for the 301st Fighter Wing is going to look very familiar:
"The 301st Fighter Wing mission is to provide Airmen to fly, fight and win ... in air, space and cyberspace."

It is, of course, based on the Air Force's mission statement, "To fly, fight and win in air, space and cyberspace."

Our new mission statement emphasizes the wing's role in providing the Air Force with its greatest resource - people - to accomplish its worldwide mission.

You will notice our mission statement does not say "Citizen Airmen" but simply "Airmen." Since all Citizen Airmen train to the same standards and can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with their active-duty counterparts, there is no need to differentiate. We are all fully-trained, fully-qualified Airmen who perform to the same standard as our Regular Air Force counterparts.

Our ability to fly, fight and win is exactly what inspectors will be evaluating during our operational readiness inspection next March.

While our mission statement describes what we do every day at the 301st, our vision statement describes our ideal state as we constantly improve upon what we do day-to-day.

The vision statement has three parts to it. The first describes our goal - "Develop the premier Active and Classic Associate Teams." We want to be the premier - or best - wing in the Air Force.

The active associate team refers to the 301st Fighter Wing here at NAS Fort Worth JRB, Texas. In a matter of months we will bring Regular Air Force Airmen to our wing. We will still posses our aircraft and facilities but will work side-by-side, every day with active-duty Airmen.

The classic associate team refers to our separated 44th Fighter Group at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M. They too work side-by-side with the Regular Air Force but fly, maintain and support active-duty aircraft.

The second part, "providing balanced, agile, and ready Reserve and Regular Air Force Airmen and resources" is key.
As Airmen we need to be Balanced, Agile and Ready...we need to raise our own B-A-R. Balance is simply organizing your life so that your family, civilian career and Air Force Reserve career complement each other. The more these three things come into conflict, the more out-of-balance your life will become. We also call this three pronged effort the Reserve Triad.

Agile refers to your ability to adapt to change and be able to plug into today's Air Force. Education is a key way to improve your agility. Whether you get a first degree, another degree, get a CCAF degree, complete a CDC, or gain a new AFSC, you are increasing agility. The Air Force is experiencing constant change and as Airmen we have to be agile and adapt to those changes.

Readiness is a term we are all familiar with. As a military unit we know that we need to be ready whenever we're needed to defend our nation, but you need to be responsible for your personal readiness. Make sure that your personal fitness, medical, ADLS and mobility requirements are always up to date. The wing will make sure that we maximize training each and every UTA so we can maximize our contributions to the mission of "fly, fight and win."

Every activity in the wing falls into any or all of these categories.
The third part of our vision statement - "to support national objectives" - describes our "customer," which is the United States. Our Nation's leadership needs us to still be that "strategic reserve", but require us to be "operationally capable". If you raise your B-A-R, you will meet not only the need, but the requirement.

In the end, I would urge you to keep our mission and vision statements in the back of your minds as you carry out your part in our wing. Each and every one of you, military and civilian, are crucial to accomplishing our mission and in what we can become as we strive to fulfill our vision. The strength of the 301st Fighter Wing is our balance, agility and readiness. Aim High.