From the Editor-in-Chief

Leadership and Culture

By LT Mike "Bubbles" Short, USN

Esteemed Readership,

The Editor-in-Chief position at Rotor Review is a collateral duty of mine. At my “day job,” I serve as an Instructor Pilot (IP) and the Tactics Officer at HSC-2, the MH-60S Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) in Norfolk, VA. I’ve found that the highest level of professional fulfillment, for me, is realized when the two jobs come in contact with one another.

As Editor-in-Chief, I function first as a content curator. Once our staff decides on an issue’s theme, I’ll identify individuals across our community who I suspect will have something thematically valuable and pertinent to contribute to our publication. For this issue of Rotor Review, themed “Leadership & Culture,” I had to look no further than my own workplace for would-be contributors.

The HSC-2 “Fleet Angel” Wardroom is full of remarkable people. As an IP there, I’m surrounded by exceptional professionals who sincerely care not only about providing great instruction to Fleet Replacement Pilots (FRPs), but also about making the organization they occupy a better place to be. My peers pull this off not as robotic “company men/women” who are simply competing for advancement, but as thoughtful and emotionally intelligent leaders with real personality who are working for the genuine betterment of our squadron, community, and Navy. If this sounds like a verbose version of an award written up for all of my squadron’s Junior Officers, that’s not my intention. It’s simply the truth. I am consistently blown away by the professionalism, ownership, and creativity of my colleagues at HSC-2.

RR 155’s first three Focus articles come from three fellow Fleet Angel IPs, and three close friends:

• LT Eli “Ham” Sinai served as our squadron’s Quality Assurance Officer (QAO). He is departing HSC-2 this winter to serve as the Aide to VADM Daniel Dwyer, Commander, JFC Norfolk and U.S. 2nd Fleet. Eli and I attended the CNAF Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) Conference together in November of last year. In his article, LT Sinai reflects on his own experience at the event, and discusses the importance of identifying and correcting both the overt and latent effects of racism, sexism, and other destructive biases in U.S. Naval Aviation.

• LT Erika “Misty” Anderson is HSC-2’s Student Control (STUCON) Officer and Suicide Prevention Coordinator (SPC). When she departs, she’ll be serving as the Aide to RDML John Menoni, Commander, Expeditionary Strike Group Two (ESG-2). In her article, “Asking the Hard Questions: Suicide Prevention,” LT Anderson draws on personal experience to highlight the immense seriousness of the suicide issue in our Armed Forces.

• LT Sarah Beth “MAC” Rupp is the Commander Naval Air Force Atlantic (CNAL) MH-60S NATOPS Evaluator. She’s been selected to represent the U.S. Navy in Toulon, France through the Personnel Exchange Program (PEP) after her time at HSC-2 ends. She’s also pursuing a Masters in Writing (Nonfiction Concentration) at Johns Hopkins University, and serves as Community Editor on this magazine’s editorial staff. In her article on sexual assault prosecution reform, LT Rupp advocates for an increased level of accountability and cultural awareness amongst military leaders when taking a critical look at behavior and attitudes within their organizations.

See what I mean? I’m proud of my squadron, and I’m proud of this issue of Rotor Review. These are submissions from impressive and passionate people about the things that really matter.

We’re in the military. Combat effectiveness is the ultimate goal. It is my belief that a force cannot achieve combat effectiveness without a level of self awareness that allows its individuals to assess and correct the areas in which the organization falls short. Leadership, to me, is constantly calibrating and re-calibrating that self awareness. It’s recognizing organizational and personal failures, and taking accountability for both. It’s doing the work to solve these problems, even when the root causes seem too complex or institutionally ingrained to even know where to start.

Please enjoy this issue of Rotor Review. And as you’re reading, consider the ways in which you think this magazine could be better. What themes would you like to see us tackle over the next year? Who do you want to hear from? What perspectives do you believe are missing? I want your feedback! Thank you, as always, for your support of the magazine. See you in the Spring!

Very respectfully,, LT Mike “Bubbles” Short Editor-in-Chief, Rotor Review