I’ve talked the last couple of weeks about commanders that have taught me important positive lessons about leadership and integrity, but this week I’d like to take a turn onto a darker street and talk about how you can just as easily learn lessons from commanders who, let’s just say, aren’t the best the Air Force has to offer.  It’s just as important to figure out what attributes not to emulate as it is to figure out which ones to emulate.

Here’s where the “Hovering Over Send” thing kicks in.  It’s easy to talk about the good and not hesitate clicking that “Send” button, but today I might “Hover” for a few extra seconds.

To AFRC’s credit, their choices for Wing Commanders have been getting much more consistent (and competent) over the last 10-15 years.  As an OG, I’ve worked for 7 different wing commanders and, although their personalities and styles have varied widely, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every one and consider them all friends.  I couldn’t say the same back in the “old days”.

Back then it seemed like every time you got a fantastic Wing CC, look out, commander Karma would kick in and you were in for a rough ride with the next one.  We found ourselves in that exact situation when Col “S” showed up on the base.  At first we thought that he would be OK.  He was quirky, aren’t we all, and he really wasn’t much of a pilot, but we’re pretty accepting here and we gave him a chance.  It didn’t take long, however, for us to realize the true extent of the terror that had been dropped on us from above.

He was the kind of guy that kept an “enemies list” on his desk.  He tracked the folks that pissed him off and his mind was unchangeable.  He surrounded himself with like minded integrity-less people and gave them free rein to wreak havoc on the wing.  Here’s my favorite example of the kind of person he was.

Mike was one our most popular, and funniest, squadron pilots.  He was a natural comedian, the kind that lit up the room when he walked in and had a quick, but not mean, wit.  He was everyone’s friend and never said a cruel word about anyone.  Well, one afternoon Mike was walking up the hill to Ops and noticed a Toyota pickup with a for sale sign in the window sitting next to the HQ building,  He’d been looking for a truck and this one had it all.  Bright and shiny, not a scratch on it, and the price was right in the range for the year and model.  So he called the number on the sign and, low and behold, it belonged to Col “S”.  After a test drive and the colonel’s assurance that it was a great truck, the deal was made, money changed hands, and off Mike drove in his sparkling used truck.

Now fast forward 9 months.  Mike’s wife didn’t like the truck at all.  It couldn’t fit the family and she didn’t like climbing up into it, so like all of our toys the wife doesn’t like, it had to go.  Mike knew how much it was worth so he drove to his local Toyota dealership with his eye on a comfortable Camry and started negotiating.  He and dealer agreed on a price, but then the negotiation broke down when the subject of the trade-in came up.  They offered him a third of what he paid for the truck and no amount of cajoling would get them to up the offer.  Finally, the dealer said, “It is after all an “R” title”.  An “R” title is for a vehicle that has been totally destroyed and then rebuilt from parts of multiple vehicles or after significant and extensive frame and body work.  By law, the seller must tell the buyer if the vehicle has been destroyed and then reconstructed which, of course, Col “S” had not done.  Mild mannered Mike drove the truck straight to the base, stormed into the Wing CCs office, pounded on his desk, and demanded his money back or he would “call the cops”.  Col “S” could only sheepishly pull out his checkbook and refund Mikes money.

That’s the kind of guy Col “S” was.  We had a Flight Engineer go to the back of the airplane to take a leak during a long overwater leg and stay back there long enough to play a few hands of poker and take some money from the crew chiefs.  The squadron handled the issue appropriately, but Col “S” heard about it and summarily fired the OG and the DO, but reinstated them the next day.  Grievances, IG complaints, Congressional inquiries, it never ended, until the day he left, and then things returned,almost immediately, back to normal.

Senior leadership, at all levels, has an enormous impact on morale and performance and when there is a lack of integrity, consistency, or failure to follow the law/regulations, it sends the message to all levels below that those standards, or lack thereof, are acceptable.  I learned a lot from Col “S”, I learned what not to do.

Final Note:

I was always a little bothered that he liked me, or appeared to like me.  I guess I would prefer that bad people not like my, but he was always friendly and supportive and I try to get along with everyone.  At the time I was the chief of stan/eval and years later someone who knew him well told me that he didn’t want to piss me off because I was one of the few people on base that could make him look bad to HHQ.  He was worried that I would bust him on a checkride and that would be embarrassing to him.  An odd look into an odd personality.