Culture

  • Published
  • By Col. Thomas J. Kauth
  • 436th Maintenance Group commander
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  On September 18, we marked our 63rd year as the United States Air Force. We have been a dominant air power for the life of our service, but this dominance isn't something we can presume or take for granted.

Rather, it is the result of our continual commitment to the highest standards, to a culture of excellence. What is the definition of "culture," who influences the culture in the Air Force, and what type of culture are we aiming for?

Webster defines culture as "the customary beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a ... social group." Culture is basically the way we think, talk, and act within our Air Force social group.

Some aspects of Air Force culture are easy to identify, like the uniforms we wear and the workplace jargon and acronyms we use. Other aspects are less obvious, like the way we perform our missions while working on a crew or how we expect ourselves and others to act on and off duty, but still fundamental to our culture.

The framework of the Air Force's culture is formed by policies, procedures, rules, and instructions. These guidelines shape how we respond to recurring situations. The influence of senior leadership members may be the easiest to see.

Commanders and supervisors establish policy to guide our behavior and provide both positive and negative reinforcement of those behaviors through official means. Our personnel use technical data and other written instructions to help ensure the quality and uniformity of maintenance actions. And we are all well aware of the rule sets used when we are inspected by others.

However, the actions of all the Airmen governed by this framework are really the more powerful and lasting part of culture. Any Airman asserts significant influence on an organization's culture based on how strongly they support the group's initiatives.

Each person brings his or her background, life experiences, education, and other factors to exert influence on the culture of the entire team. No matter your position or role in an organization, you can positively influence the culture of your team by clearly communicating desirable behaviors, modeling that behavior yourself, and providing positive reinforcement to those who have the same standards.

Positive reinforcement may be as formal as an annual award or as simple as words of praise. The shared challenge of the daily mission bonds us together. Subsequently, cultural norms are established, maintained, and modified based on which behaviors are rewarded and those that aren't.

So, how do we establish a culture that will maintain excellence? In our service, we are taught the Air Force Core Values of "Integrity First, Service Before Self, and Excellence in All We Do." These aren't just words to memorize but ideals to live by. These core values help keep the entire Air Force team focused on what we need to do and where we need to go, regardless of how the day-to-day challenges and mission changes attempt to get us off track.

Within our wing, we want to develop strong resilience in our Airmen so we can all bounce back from inevitable setbacks in both our personal and professional lives. We can develop this resilience through the engagement of all levels of supervisors in order to stay in tune with our Airmen's daily lives. This aspect of our culture encourages proactive support to prevent near-term problems from becoming full blown crises that negatively impact the team as a whole.

As the commander of the Maintenance Group, I emphasize the development of a positive atmosphere in our work centers. I expect team members to be treated with mutual respect and to recognize each others' unique gifts and talents that enable our team to accomplish our objectives. Team members should build each other up with encouraging words and actions rather than tearing down with cynicism or abuse.

While this is not a complete list of expected cultural norms, those noted are focused on instilling every Airman with confidence in his or her own abilities as well as confidence and trust in teammates' abilities. This trust and confidence, in turn, enables us to respond to the multitude of challenges we face on a daily basis. It is this resilience in the face of obstacles that helps to make us the world's greatest Air Force!