Command Corner: Feb. 21

  • Published
  • By Col. Steven Harrison
  • 436th Airlift Wing commander
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  How many bases can boast of hosting two Chief Master Sergeants of the Air Force within 10 days of each other? In the wake of Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force McKinley's visit last week, we were honored to welcome the fifth Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force, Robert D. Gaylor, as our keynote speaker at the Annual Awards banquet on Wednesday night. As always, Chief Gaylor delivered a powerful and thought provoking speech that clearly added to the drama of revealing the 436th Airlift Wing annual award winners. Every facet of Wednesday's event melded perfectly with our theme of "Full Spectrum Excellence; Celebrating Dover's Finest!" 

Special thanks to the Annual Awards Banquet committee, led by Master Sgts. Bruce Russell, Jason Kalinowski and Tangie Ulrich; Staff Sgt. Katherine Holton; and the host of other contributors as they really hit a "home run" showcasing our extremely talented Airmen and civilians. Best of luck to our winners as they move on to compete at the Air Mobility Command level in their respective categories! 

True to his reputation as a wonderful advocate for our Airmen, Chief Gaylor took time to tour the base and meet professionals from every group. I'm proud to report that he was tremendously impressed by the energy, spirit and professionalism our world-class professionals displayed every day of the week. 

That commitment to excellence was on full display just last Sunday, as Col. Randal Bright, 512th Airlift Wing commander, and I greeted Maj. Gen. Fred Roggero, who is the AMC Director of Air, Space and Information Operations at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, to Dover upon his return from an overseas mission. Minutes after his plane taxied to the hot cargo pad, General Roggero, Colonel Bright and I were privileged to watch our maintainers, passenger service representatives, fleet service and transporters simultaneously converge on the aircraft--all standard operations for Dover Air Force Base. 

I was particularly impressed to see five Tunner loaders cross the runway in perfect formation and proceed directly into position, ready to off-load as soon as the aircraft and crew were prepared. That rapid logistics mindset is what allows us to speed support to the warfighter. It's no wonder that we are currently moving more channel cargo than every other base in Air Mobility Command combined! 

We'll take that same mindset of Full Spectrum Excellence into July as we put our warfighting reputation on the line during the Operational Readiness Inspection. In preparation, units across the wing participated in "ATSO at Work" events throughout the week. Whether in the office or on the flightline, our Airmen practiced their Ability to Survive and Operate in a chemical environment, began getting accustomed to accomplishing tasks in Mission Oriented Protective Posture, more commonly called MOPP, four, and re-familiarized themselves with the Airman's manual. The ORI will be a huge challenge, and we'll continue to attack it by staying focused on our game plan of continually and consistently improving all the readiness skills we need to effectively and safely deploy, operate from a deployed location, and redeploy in a timely manner. Thanks to the entire team for participating in this effort. 

Celebrating the accolades of Dover's finest while prepping for future success...just one more reason Team Dover is "America's Preeminent Expeditionary Airlift Team!"