We must live up to our legacy

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Thad Bibb
  • 9th AS commander
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  "I hope I can hit the ball like that when I'm 81!" -- that's what the golfer standing next to me said as we watched a ball flying down the fairway at the Dover Chamber of Commerce's Blue Suiters Golf Tournament. The man making the comment had just turned 80, so we laughed. What a great experience to spend the afternoon with these two civic leaders and combat veterans. After 3 years at Dover, I knew we had the best community support in AMC -- even before Air Mobility Command awarded our community the Abilene Trophy. What I had forgotten was why they are the best -- because they care deeply for our people and our mission.

For them it is more than a relationship, we are a part of their legacy. They have already made their sacrifice -- in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and Southwest Asia. They have lost loved ones, stormed beaches and flown the toughest missions. They have delivered to us a secure nation and a world that dares to hope for freedom. So they are not merely observers of current military events, but stock holders that have invested their sweat and tears into our nation.

They asked me "How is morale? Where are you flying? What do you carry into Afghanistan? Are you supporting the 82nd Airborne? How long is the 3rd deployed? And what do our Airmen think of this?" But, I feel like they are really asking me "Are you living up to our legacy?" It makes me wonder when we are 81, will we have handed over a secure nation, a world that has embraced freedom? Will we have passed the test?

I believe we will pass this test, but only if we are willing to embrace change. Ironically, in order to fulfill the legacy of those that have gone before us, we must be willing to abandon our practices and processes of the past and search for new and better ways of conducting operations. In an article written for his professional military education students, a Chinese Colonel wrote that America's biggest weakness is how we view change. He says that our view of change is to modernize equipment - to buy a faster jet, a bigger tank, an unsinkable ship. He surmises that our inability to think creatively, to view change beyond equipment modernization, will lead to our downfall.

I don't know about you, but this gets me fired up. I think we can think creatively -- and we must. Yes, the next battle may be in the air. But it might also be in space, or in cyberspace. Or it may be fought in the financial markets, or using real estate purchases, or it may be a war of information or one in the realm of nanotechnology. It may be fought tomorrow, or it may already be in progress today.

Do you look for change in your workplace? We must do more than study AFSO-21 and Lean thinking, we must encourage new ideas and be ready to implement them. At Dover you have done that! Our wing leads the Air Force in successful AFSO-21 initiatives -- like the APS's Terminal 21 -- where an automated terminal combined with inbound logistics and Lean concepts improves our cargo handling capacity for the warfighter. Or the 436th Maintenance Squadron's Isochronal Inspection Value Stream which saved 100 man hours per week for shift changeover activities. Or the Flight Control Rapid Improvement Event which reduced cycle time by 70% and costs by $480,000. Or the Pharmacy's RIE, which saved us 15 to 35 minutes in the waiting room.

I hope that when we turn 81 that we are able to hit the ball down the fairway. More importantly, I hope that when we turn 81 we can look back on our service and know that we passed to the next generation a secure and free nation and a world that pursues freedom. If we continue to look for change and embrace new ways of thinking while remaining true to the ideals of our forefathers -- we will.