First of all, I apologize for not posting last week.  I ended up catching a nasty cold from little Charlotte which I have now passed on to Peg.  So much for excuses, let’s move on.

One of the advantages of being retired is that you have a lot more time to reflect.  Of course you get to think about the future and the past but more importantly you have the time to reflect on a more philosophic level.  When you’re working that 40-60 hour work week, just trying to keep all of the balls in the air, you rarely have time to ask the hard questions of yourself and the organizations of which you’re a part.  Here’s an example.

I was thinking about the Air Force core values last week.  Those of you who have served, or are still serving, can rattle them off without thinking but for those who aren’t familiar, here they are.  Integrity first, Service before self, and Excellence in all we do.  For those not familiar with the concept of core values it’s pretty straight forward.  Members of the Air Force are expected to apply these precepts to everything they do.  They’re not difficult to understand concepts.  They’re intentionally short and to the point.  But, like most things, it’s the execution that can be difficult.

In my experience an organization, whether large or small, begins to crumble not when it’s members lose sight of its values and vision but when the leadership does.  As leaders we can say that we have a set of values that we expect everyone to follow but when it becomes obvious that we aren’t willing to follow them ourselves the organization will fail.  The best place to be, or maybe the worst, to see the results of that kind of failure is middle management.  There is the pressure from above to solve the problems and the demands from below asking for direction so if you want to get a real sense of an organization you need to ask the leaders in the middle.  That’s where I get most of my feedback and, sadly, I’m not very confident about the future of our Air Force.  Let’s apply those values.

Integrity first.  The military, of course, serves the executive branch.  And as much as you think the military should reflect higher values than its civilian leadership, the “style” of the executive branch does trickle down to the military.  If the executive branch has little regard for the rule of law, that attitude will eventually be reflected.  Since the force structure announcement of 2012 the Air Force has continually violated multiple laws by ignoring scores of FOIA requests and attempting to violate 10 USC 2687 just to name a few.  And, like most people, if an organization gets away with something once it makes it all too easy to try it again.  It’s a slippery slope of lost morality and integrity and sliding always starts at the top.

Service before self.  The Air Force has created a system that is diametrically opposed to the concept as a whole.  The officer corps, and increasingly the NCO corps, is organized under the structure of filling squares to position oneself for the next promotion, not to meet the increasing demands of the nation.  A system that encourages change for change sake.  Not to improve, but to make a name for oneself, to chase the rank, to move up or be moved out.  The Air Force can’t afford to drive out the brightest and best and keep the bloviators and bootlickers but it has created a system that does exactly that.

Excellence in all we do.  I’m not sure where to begin.  The Air Force has an amazing number of hard working individuals who have made it their sole purpose in life to be excellent and cost effective.  People are creative and resourceful and they truly are our best asset but they get frustrated when  decisions at the top don’t take full advantage of their efforts or make decisions that are counter-productive.  I’ll use the 911th Airlift Wing as an example.  Without a doubt, the 911th is the most cost effective facility in the entire Air Force.  We’ve all seen the numbers.  It’s strategically placed upwind of the entire eastern seaboard, it is located on the largest airport (land owned by the airport authority) in the US, it enjoys enormous community support, it has no encroachment issues, it has the best manning in AFRC, it has massive expansion potential, it has no airspace issues, it has a major port and rail yard within 5 miles, it enjoys a low cost of living for its members, there are huge medical facilities in the local area, both strategically and tactically it is the perfect location for an Air Force base yet it is perpetually being targeted for closure.  Is that “excellence” from our Air Force leadership?

Sadly, Air Force leadership has been co-opted by the pervasive, corrupting,  inside the beltway politics. They have proven time and again that they will do the politically expedient thing before they will do the right thing.  But what we  expect of our military leadership is for them to do the thing that best honors their oath to protect and defend the constitution. To follow the laws of the land regardless of the lawlessness of the administration.  For them to simply follow the core values that they claim to cherish.