CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –
Charleston Air Force Base is home to the Air Force's two premier air mobility wings! We save more lives than anyone else! Staying No. 1 over time is not easy ... just ask the New York Yankees or the New England Patriots! This won't happen to Team Charleston, with your help, we're ready to stay No. 1 for a long time ... you're up for the challenge!
Preeminent success starts with the small things. While new recruits at basic military training are no longer required to fold their T-shirts into 6-inch squares, the idea that attention to detail is important still remains. In our case, we're moving life-saving cargo to those on the ground who need it. We're also saving lives doing aero-medical evacuations of servicemembers to hospitals where they can be treated. Without armor for their humvees or mine rollers and IED jammers for their convoys, people would die.
The hundreds of steps needed to receive an armor kit here, ready it for shipment, load it on an airplane, fly it to a hub, load it on another airplane and deliver it to the Army sergeant on the ground all require incredible attention to detail. Why? Because 20 minutes late here at Charleston can mean days of delay for the Soldiers in Baghdad waiting for the equipment they need to do their jobs safely.
Please continue to look at your processes and learn how your job fits in to our overall mission. Each and every one of you contributes to saving lives and each and every thing you do should be accomplished without wasted motion. We must be flawless. Leadership at the group and squadron level have been engaged in determining our most vital operations and looking for ways to work safer, faster, cheaper and more efficiently. Every member of Team Charleston needs to play a part in finding new and better ways of doing business. We have an awesome responsibility ... we are being counted on to save lives and we can't afford to give less than 110 percent.
To make this work, our people must press ahead to get better while still taking care of each other. Our operations tempo is very high and our people are responsible for more than they ever have been. Our Airmen, civilians and volunteers are our most precious resource, not those C-17s on the flightline. We make sure that our jets receive the attention they deserve, our people should too.
This week we had a Community Action Information Board meeting where I was briefed on the status of how well we are taking care of our families, the status of our medical readiness and what organizations are doing to take care of our people. I was very pleased with most of our indicators. We are No. 1 but we can never rest on our laurels ... we can and must continue to improve.
Shoot for perfection and never be content with status quo. All of our Airmen and civilians, not just most, should be current on suicide awareness training. More of our Airmen should be trying to quit smoking...28 percent still do! Continue to reach out to families and coworkers as many of military members deploy. We are doing phenomenal ... keep taking care of the mission but also look for better ways to care for our teammates and families -- they are the most important asset we have. Please continue to make me proud. Take care of yourselves and each other. You are the best of the best!
Team Charleston -- One family, one mission, one fight!