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The Patriot • April 4, 2014
Joint Base Charleston Air Base & Weapons Station About The Patriot
The Patriot, the official weekly paper of Joint Base Charleston is published every Friday by Diggle Publishing Co., (843) 412-5861, a private firm in no way connected with the U.S. Air Force or the U.S. Navy, under exclusive written contract with the 628th Air Base Wing. This civilian enterprise newspaper is an authorized publication for members of the military services and their families. Its contents are not necessarily the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, the Department of the Air Force or the Department of the Navy. The appearance of advertising in this publication, including inserts or supplements, does not constitute endorsement by DoD, Air Force, Navy or Diggle Publishing Company of the products or services advertised. Editorial content is edited, prepared, and provided by the 628th Air Base Wing Public Affairs Office of Joint Base Charleston. All photographs are Air Force or Navy photographs unless otherwise indicated. Everything advertised in this publication shall be made available for purchase, use or patronage without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, physical handicap, political affiliation or any other nonmerit factor of the purchaser, user or patron. The Publisher and Public Affairs office reserve the right to refuse any advertisement deemed against DOD regulations or which may reflect poorly on the bases or personnel.
Deadlines
The deadline for submitting stories for space-available publication is prior to noon of the Friday preceding the desired publication date. The Patriot staff reserves the right to edit all copy submitted for publication.
Editorial Staff
Joint Base Charleston commander Col. Jeffrey DeVore Public Affairs Officer 1st Lt. Chris Love Patriot Editor Chuck Diggle
Editorial Content
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COMMENTARY
Let your conscience be your guide
Commentary by Col. James Fontanella 315th Airlift Wing commander
Undeniably, we all make mistakes at some point. We are human and it is natural. What our conscience ought to tell us about corrective action after a misstep is to take responsibility for our actions, be honest with ourselves and others and move on. Mistakes are opportunities for Let your conscience be your guide. growth and I'm a firm believer in education versus punishment to That's pretty simple advice. We all remember the enable development. story of Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket from our childSome circumstances can put us in a position where the right answer hoods, and the horrible outcomes when Jiminy's advice is that we shouldn't go it alone. We know that whether it's help with was disregarded. The interesting thing is, following finances, relationships, substance abuse or other behavioral health your conscience is great advice whether you're young issues, assistance is out there. All too often, many of our coworkers, or old, child or adult, wooden or real. I find that it serves me well in my current position. Col. James Fontanella and even loved ones, need help and won't take the initiative to act on what they know they need to do. Our Wingman culture encourages us True, I'm inundated with guidance memorandums, polito help each other out. It's our duty to point others in need toward the cy letters and Air Force Instructions, but for the most part, my gut often resources that are available. And if you're wondering whether or not you tells me very precisely the difference between right and wrong. I also should seek help for yourself - you probably already know the answer. Take believe that most folks have a pretty reliable conscience when given the advantage of the opportunity to learn and grow before there are negative opportunity to look inward and ask themselves if they know right from consequences. wrong, efficient from wasteful or productive from destructive. It's the I see amazing accomplishments from the people I work with every day. choices that we make, by either knowingly accepting the guidance from our internal moral compass, or disregarding it for an easy out, that can get us in Truthfully, some make it look easier than others, but I acknowledge that most of our behaviors generally come from an intuitive sense within us. trouble. Consistently listening to our consciences takes strength, courage and Fortunately, our military services provide us with good core values we are all expected to live by. And they are intended to be 24/7/365, on and off resiliency, but it's within all of our powers to do it, and hopefully that little voice in your head reflects good, honest and principled ethics. Life is never duty, in and out of uniform. For the Air Force, we all understand "Integrity as easy as children's fairy tales, but happy endings are far more likely if you First, Service Before Self, and Excellence in All We Do." Start with what choose to live your life by the guidance of your conscience ... whether or you know is right and make good choices that will serve yourself, your not you've chosen to name it. families, your service and your country well.
Confessions of a professional thief Commentary by Lt. Col. Pat Miller 628th Civil Engineer Squadron commander
My name is Lt. Col. Pat Miller, and I am a thief. Now you may be thinking, how is this possible? Thievery goes against our core values and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. In turn, I'll argue the opposite. Because of a commitment to "Excellence in All We Do," I better myself and others by stealing. The real question you need to ask is, what is it that I so boldly confess to stealing? I'm a collector of leadership styles, problem solving techniques and a myriad of other intellectual items. I watch. I listen. I process and learn. And then I apply whatever tool is right for the moment at hand. Over the years I have become a firm believer that you learn something from everyone - good leaders and bad. Each interaction is a learning opportunity. Sometimes you learn what works; sometimes you learn what doesn't work. And each time, you log the experience and try to recognize situations where a lesson from your memory rolodex can be applied. At times the lesson is as clear. This typically occurs at the extremes with brilliant and toxic leaders. Other times the lesson is harder to distill. You know you saw or experienced something, but it doesn't hit you until a few
days, weeks or months later what it was. Regardless of the situation, however that experience molded your leadership style. So where do I stalk my prey? Naturally, our military community is a target rich environment. By the nature of our profession, we are surrounded by leaders and mentors both military and civilian. Keep your eyes open at not just formal meetings, but at social gatherings. Analyze the way a supervisor addresses a discipline issue or motivates a group. Note the nuances between leading a few Airmen versus leading many and the variation in approaches. Leadership is not a "one size fits all" activity. Another prime target is our professional development pipeline. We are fortunate to have the opportunity to attend numerous leadership courses depending on our rank and position. Although the content is high quality, look for the other more subtle lessons. How does your instructor interact with the class? What are the post-lesson conversations about between students? Odds are, someone is talking about an experience similar to the lesson taught. The peer-to-peer dialogue is where you steal the best ideas. The final, and perhaps most ripe quarry, is our surrounding community. You need to be a trained knowledge sniper to glean nuggets from community involvement. Whether you realize it or not, each
activity gives you an opportunity to pilfer or polish a skill. As an engineer, Habitat for Humanity is a target rich environment for our craftsmen. Working hand-in-hand with other tradesmen can teach a young carpenter a new way to frame a structure or an electrician a more efficient way to wire a panel. The new skill, if applied in the proper setting, could enable a job at home station or downrange to be executed more efficiently. The same can be said for speaking engagements, organizing events or judging science fairs. With each engagement you are not just helping the community, but you are helping yourself ... pirating knowledge and experience that betters your communication and organizational skills. Leading up to my last promotion, I sent a letter to former mentors and peers thanking them for making me the officer and Airman, leader and follower, husband and father I am today. At some point in my life, they challenged me, provided guidance and direction when I needed it, gave me the freedom to act, trusted me, allowed me to succeed and allowed me to fail. The successes were clearly theirs, but the failures were mine to own - in those instances I simply forgot the lessons I stole. I encourage you to look for opportunities to better yourself. Steal every great idea or leadership style possible and apply them when the situation calls. Do it right, and thieving doesn't sound all that bad. Time to find my next victim.
fying the critical things you need to correct in order to better accomplish the mission. You are assessing yourself on how well you are doing your job. It is crucial to be brutally honest in your answers to your checklists and provide proof you have verified the answer and that you have had "eyes on." Here are some tips for a successful unit SAP: 1. Read your Air Force Instructions. The instructions tell us what to do and why we do it. The checklists used for self-assessment are only tools to help prepare your organization to be compliant with the Air Force instructions that pertain to your organization. 2. Be honest. Identify your problems, tell your supervisor about them and then fix them. It is easier and less painful to correct a self-identified problem than have someone outside your organization address it. 3. Enlist outside help. If you are unfamiliar with SAP, contact your squadron's SAP manager, MICT administrator, and/or the Joint Base Charleston Inspector General office. They can offer you guidance and instruction on how to run your checklist. 4. Explain your answers. It is easy to speed through checklists with yes or no answers, but it is important to take your time and provide proof for your answers. The justifications for yes responses
and explanations of no responses are what provides the proof of your program's thoroughness. 5. Document the results. It is important following an exercise or self-assessment to input all discrepancies, now called observations, into the MICT database to insure proper tracking until they are closed. Having a viable SAP ensures each functional area and work center is inspected. It is one mechanism in which we ensure effective and efficient mission accomplishment. This is the unit's opportunity to self-identify, address and report these issues to leadership. As part of the new Air Force Inspection System we all, from airman basic to colonel, are to: continuously evaluate our work, unit, processes, procedures, etc., and identify and address issues as they happen, and honestly report our findings to leadership. SAP requires your due diligence in order to provide a valid assessment. In doing so, we are working and striving for continual mission readiness through self-assessment. If you're already doing this, great! You are helping your unit on its path to success. If you're not, get onboard and help your unit be mission ready. Your friendly neighborhood Inspector General office is available for any questions you have feel free to e-mail them to: "628 ABW/IG Inspector General" organization box.
Conditioning is key to inspection effectiveness Commentary by Lt. Col. Alexandria Watson 628th Air Base Wing Inspector General
The Unit Effectiveness Inspection has been over for a few months now. Thank goodness we survived but now what? Do we just wait until the fall of 2015 and start scrambling for the next UEI? No, we don't! It's like running a marathon. You don't practice the week or so before the big run. You condition your body for months to prepare for the big day; so, when it comes you're ready. The same goes for our next UEI. I know it's not until Dec. 2015, but we need to condition ourselves now so being inspection ready means we have been, are and will continue to be mission ready. And how do we do that? One way is through unit Self-Assessment Programs. SAPs provide an effective means of assessing mission performance and organizational effectiveness through internal review. Use your unit SAP to prepare your organization for mission readiness and in essence you'll be preparing your unit to be inspection ready. The SAP helps gauge unit strengths, illuminate problem areas and provide feedback to leaders. Within SAP, units use the checklists in management internal control toolset as one way to assess mission readiness. Diligent completion of checklists helps in identi-
Simply put ... just be nice
Commentary by Master Sgt . Tim Wheelis 14th Airlift Squadron
Have you ever heard the saying, you'll catch more flies with honey than vinegar? Simply put, it means, be nice! This saying is something everyone should think about when talking to friends and strangers alike. We all have those days where we wish we could just crawl back into bed and try again tomorrow, but acting disgruntled and rude only makes other people have a bad day too. If you happen to encounter someone who is obviously having a bad day, or even a bad year, try cheering them up instead of spreading the gloom, you may just save a life. If you need to talk with someone to correct an issue such as hair or uniform, remember to be constructive with your criticism. If you yell at them in front of people or make general statements about their appearance being out of regulation, you will most likely be met with resistance and contempt. Instead, talk with them in private and let them know exactly what is out of regulation and how to fix it, then follow up to make sure the issue gets fixed. Also, if you happen to be the one out of compliance, accept the criticism and fix the issue. There is no sense in acting disrespectful especially when
you are in the wrong. No matter where you work, or who you're talking to, be nice to people and you may be surprised how nice people are in return.
DUI CONDITION:
YELLOW! 138 TOTAL SAVES FOR 2014
963 -
AADD
# of Days Since Last JB Charleston DUI - 14 (Mar. 21, 2014 - 628 LRS) Total # of DUIs for JB Charleston 2014 - 5
Airmen Against Drunk Driving: Wingmen Saving Lives
Joint Base Charleston’s Airmen Against Drunk Driving offers free, confidential rides home. To volunteer, email AADD.charleston@charleston.af.mil The JB Charleston DUI Battle Plan: https://eim.amc.af.mil/org/628ABW/JBCharlestonDUIBattlePlan/default.aspx