Lead Today To Avoid Regret Tomorrow

By CAPT John "Swede" Anderson, USN, Commander, Helicopter Maritime Strike Wing Atlantic

Most importantly, I would like to recognize and applaud the enthusiasm, tactical prowess, professionalism, and ownership across all ranks of rotary aircrews, maintenance rates, civilian staff, and support personnel. That opinion isn't only the musings of a proud Commodore; on the contrary, I can't recall a week when a senior official didn't relay those same observations. Far too often, we get mired in the daily grind where we fail to recognize the breadth of all our accomplishments and immeasurable value to the force. Take a step back and admire your work.

At the higher echelons and down through squadron O5 leadership, the Navy is acutely focused on identifying and prioritizing Quality of Life (QOL) and Quality of Service (QOS) initiatives. I can assure you that Flag leadership is listening to our recommendations and taking action more than any other time that I have witnessed in my career. But despite these ongoing efforts, we must consider how we, as a community, can maximize our current force and hedge against future recruiting or retention shortfalls. I will seize upon this soapbox opportunity to relay thoughts on leadership and how to further enable our ability to Fix, Fly, and Fight.

"You Owe It To The Team”

– It is imperative that every maintainer achieve and maintain qualifications on timeline. From years of reviewing anonymous climate surveys and countless non-attribution conversations with maintainers, this is the number one issue that erodes the morale of a maintenance department. High achievers understandably resent those who are delinquent in achieving their qualifications. On the other hand, low achievers claim that they have little to no incentive to gain a qualification that carries with it more responsibility, more work, and, in their mind, a higher chance of losing rank at non-judicial punishment. Within the sports world, former Alabama football head coach, Nick Saban, identified similar concerns in building a championship program: "Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people. So if everybody doesn't buy into the same principles and values of the organization at the same high standard, you're never going to be successful." At every leadership level, our most critical responsibility is to provide a unifying vision while creating a team-oriented culture that incentivizes achievement. We must also ensure that Sailors genuinely believe that our actions in imparting individual discipline aren't acts of vengeance but rather methods of ensuring accountability to the team. The most successful teams are comprised of individuals who all pull equal weight and all row at the same high speed.

"Inspection Ready"

– I loathe the publicizing of known inspection dates, as I feel that doing so impedes the development of a proactive culture where we don't adequately recognize and advance high-initiative Sailors who prove that they can operate autonomously. In the current paradigm, Sailors receive recognition and are often ranked based on their performance during inspections.

"I've Been There Before"

– Reduced manning heightens the importance of considering platform experience during the enlisted detailing process. Sub-optimal squadron manning challenges qualified maintainers to dedicate time to leading maintenance training evolutions, whether the training is on the job or formally structured. New check-ins with prior platform experience minimize training overhead requirements and afford squadron leadership flexibility in appointing detachment LCPO/LPO responsibilities. "Reutilization" metrics exist, and leadership is fighting on your behalf to keep qualified and deserving talent within the community.

"What Is It Gonna Take?"

– I'm irritated whenever I hear someone propose dismissing a mishap as a one-off incident, a bad day, or the 'cost of doing business.' Inculcating a strong, learning safety culture throughout every level of our community is the 'price of winning.' We literally can’t afford to get this one wrong.

"I Like It Here, I Think I'll Stay"

– Retention studies are replete with reasons employees transition out of a career field. Although there are disagreements on the prioritization order of that rationale, there is no doubt that two primary factors are whether an employee feels like they are learning new skills and whether that employee has any desire to follow in their boss' footsteps.

"They Really Do Care"

– The most rewarding decision I made during my command tour at HSM-73 was carving out three workdays dedicated exclusively to maintenance training. We brought in outside aviation safety and maintenance experts and spent several days providing rate-specific training across the squadron. I've never seen Sailors so motivated and excited about their work. The maintainers' pride swelled beyond anything I'd seen in the squadron up to that point. Reduced manning means that conducting efficient and impactful maintenance training is even more paramount than before. Our Maintainers desperately want to learn and improve, so let's enable it.

"Thanks To Jank"

- I won't lie, I considered leaving Naval Service in the past. I spoke with friends who had transitioned out and those who had never served to get their opinions. So why did I stay? I offer that credit mainly to a former HSM leader of mine, CAPT Patrick "Jank" Jankowski, USN (Ret.). While I was serving as his Department Head, Jank trusted and empowered me. It was the first time I felt I possessed influence commensurate with my rank. It was invigorating, and I wanted to know if all of my post-Department Head Navy jobs would give me the same satisfaction. Around the same time I worked for Jank, I came across the following quote by the author Robert Byrne: "The purpose of life is a life of purpose." During one of our deployments together, I had an epiphany and finally grasped the intangible value of working alongside others who shared a common purpose and ethos. I realized there may be other occupations that pay a higher wage or other career fields that would be less stressful, but there is no other calling that is more distinguished and rewarding than service to one's country. I love making a difference, and the longer I've stayed in, the more ability I've gained to change what previously frustrated me and the more opportunities I've had to impart a 'Jank' style impact on a Sailor's life. If you have one Sailor subordinate to you, remember how much influence you have on their future life decisions. Jank is a significant reason I made it this far; his leadership unleashed my potentia. I strive to return the favor tenfold to those Sailors serving within CHSMWL.

"Amazing Speech – Can I Get A Copy?"

In the spring of 2019, I was honored to serve as the Commissioning Officer for one of HSM-73's hot-running Senior Chiefs. The most memorable moment from that day came at the end of the ceremony when the Senior Chief's mother asked me for a copy of my speech. She was so proud of her son and blown away by how I had spoken about him that day. But she was even more shocked when she realized I hadn't written anything elaborate on the sheet of paper I was carrying. And I'll never forget the look on her face when I said, "Ma'am, I didn't write a speech; I simply elaborated on each of your son's career achievements. It was his military biography." You and your Sailors should never lose perspective on how much they have achieved simply by serving. And that, at worst, you are all heroes in your family's eyes.

"Give Me Everything You've Got"

- We must continue improving our simulators' fidelity, reliability, and interoperability to drive synthetic training closer to real-world operations. We must maximize every flight hour in the aircraft by learning and improving from every flight by taking pride in leading detailed and blunt debriefs – if there is no rank in the cockpit, then there shouldn't be any in debriefs either.

"How Clear? Crystal Clear"

– The iterative pace of war is quickening, and the rotary community's ability to rapidly learn and adjust is central to our Navy's ability to project power in the future. We can no longer wait for post-cruise debriefs to convey lessons learned. Instead, deployed aircrews must rapidly and succinctly articulate seams and vulnerabilities in each after-action report. Steve Jobs once famously said, "It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do." Your community leadership last deployed a minimum of five years ago, so help us make informed, accurate, and unassailable arguments about what equipment and training we need to win the future fight.

Former Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Michael Gilday, titled the 2020s a 'Decade of Urgency.' We must understand that tomorrow is too late to start improving ourselves or strengthening our team. We must start today. I'm proud to serve alongside each one of you. Let’s get after it.