NAVAL AIR STATION FORT WORTH JOINT RESERVE BASE, Texas -- I was sent a FighterLine, from February 1973, after former 301st Fighter Wing Commander General John Taylor passed away. I noticed a blurb on page two about submitting ideas to the policy council of Tactical Air Command (TAC). It noted the council met twice a year and considered around 100 recommendations. Super cool that the Wing/Command/Air Force was engaged in making things better for our Airmen. Fast forward 46 years, and your leadership is still interested in your ideas. Innovation is the new buzzword, but the fundamental concept is the same. What makes us a great service is the ability to solicit ideas/change from our Airmen and being able to implement the best ideas. It doesn’t have to be a grand change, or even something expensive…sometimes change can be small, yet positively affect many.
Since the Boss rolled out the program in October, there have been several submissions to improve our Wing and installation. There have been some easy fixes:
-Paint a crosswalk between the B-Xtra and Bldg 1650. Rolled into restriping project; cost: Free
-Post a guard at the corner of Carswell Ave/Military Parkway to keep the traffic moving on UTA weekends. Championed by the MSG/CC; cost: time spent in the am & pm.
-Initiate a sponsor program for newcomers. Rolled into new Newcomers model; cost: Free.
There have also been some submissions that address installation-owned processes, like stop signs at the gates, that we cannot influence, or suggestions that indicate some of our warriors didn’t know what is offered on base. All were great submissions as they highlighted challenges and opportunities in the wing/installation, and still stimulated change.
I want to thank everyone who has already submitted and ask that everyone continues to look for opportunities. We should not accept “this is the way it has always been done” or turn a blind eye to any processes we know are broken. We’re always looking for innovative ideas to make the 301FW and the Air Force better and we want to hear your thoughts. If you have an idea, please submit it. It will go straight to the Commander, Vice, Director of Staff, and Command Chief where it will be reviewed and presented to your leadership if adopted.
Let’s get after it!