Air Forces secret weapon: lieutenant power!

  • Published
  • By Col. Dennis E. Daley
  • 436th Maintenance Group commander
Dover Air Force Base, Del. --  Highly Classified! Please whatever you do, do not share this secret of success to anyone else; keep this only among us friends at Dover.

The year 2009 was an unbelievable year for many reasons at Dover, but one reason not so apparent is our secret weapon: our outstanding lieutenants. Without a doubt, those huge successes our maintainers achieved in 2009 -- an 'Outstanding' Logistics Standardization and Evaluation Program, Fully Operational Capability C-17 one year early, highly successful C-5M Operational Testing and Evaluation and major increase in en route sorties -- would not have been achievable without the energy, skill and dedication of our little band of 20-something-year-olds fresh out of college.

Trust me my friends ... these 'kids' were at the center of every initiative the maintenance group successfully implemented.

Why? Why did these young officers contribute so very much to our success?
Three big reasons explain it: Great squadron commanders, super chiefs, and Program Budget Directive 720.

First, our Lieutenants had the good fortune of serving under four superb Squadron Commanders who took personal interest in their development. Lt. Col. Dave Glass, Maj. Rich Branson, Maj. Stephanie Halcrow and Maj. Sean McMurray raised the art of mentoring to a new level.

Then there are the maintenance group super chiefs. Match a young, bright lieutenant with a highly experienced super chief, add a touch of mission pressure and get out of the way. The combination of experienced chief leadership and high energy youth resulted in success. Those chiefs will mentor, harness and focus that lieutenant power into outstanding mission accountability. Man, did they ever!

Finally, the Program Budget directive 720 decimated the maintenance officer ranks. Dover lost 60 percent of their officers. We went from 10 authorized captain positions to 4 and from 6 authorized major billets to 3. I actually had more captains as a squadron commander at Charleston in 1998 than I do as a group commander at Dover in 2010. Because of our officer manning shortfalls, our young lieutenants were provided leadership opportunities often reserved for captains or even majors.

And they took advantage of those opportunities. 1st Lt. James Harris was the single officer point of contact for the entire Wing's successful Installation Excellence Award in 2008. Not to be outdone, 1st Lt. Jeff Fry followed up with a similar role for Dover IEA competition in 2010. In addition, Lieutenant Harris and 2nd Lt. Jordan Healy led an Air Force first with the implementation of our C-5 Regionalized Isochronal Inspection. They personally led 149 maintainers in this highly innovative and successful effort.

Lieutenants Dan Martin, Jeff Fry, James Harris and Ben Derry served as super execs in our group office.

Hard work, long hours, and high standards were asked and they did not disappoint. Not to be outdone, 1st Lt. Matt Ratcliff and 2nd Lt. Parawee Euavijitearoon led critical leadership positions as the C-5 Aircraft Maintenance Unit officer in charge and the 436th MXS Accessory Fight OIC respectively. Both big jobs usually led by more experienced captains ... but don't tell Matt or May, there were spectacular section leaders.

Our young lieutenants with our super chiefs in the background perform at such a high level well beyond their age or rank that exceed these challenging mission requirements. Our outstanding lieutenant leaders are ready to DELIVER!