What do you control?

  • Published
  • By Col. Mark Burns
  • 35th Mission Support Group commander
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan --  Air Force members, from airman basic to colonel and above, all have responsibilities inherent to their position and rank. These responsibilities take into account regulations, technical orders, checklists and Air Force instructions. They help guide and determine the prioritization of your actions. In addition, performance evaluations, inspections, staff assistance visits and award programs measure the effectiveness of your actions. This system is daunting in its complexity and shear size. However, not all decisions are clear-cut and obvious. There are times when it requires more than what is the textbook answer. Some decisions are made in "gray areas." In actuality, as you progress through the ranks and gain more responsibility, more decisions are made within this realm. Always follow the instructions, but when faced with the inevitable gray areas, a good first step is to ask yourself, "What do I control within the process and within myself?" Then go the extra mile and ask what you can do to improve it and yourself. Help continue the culture of excellence and safety across the Air Force by asking yourself how you can contribute to it. 

U.S. Air Force history has taught us a great many things. One of the most important lessons learned are from the mistakes observed. Regulations, TOs, checklists and instructions are embedded with these history lessons. They are purposely written so no one makes the same mistake twice. Taking short cuts in this area could mean millions of dollars wasted, additional time spent, or worst, the lives of your Airmen lost. Written guidelines are the elements you have the least control over in making decisions. However, your controlling factor in all of this is the thoroughness with which you follow the regulations and checklists. Be an expert at your instructions, but also ask what was the story behind an entry in a TO or checklist. Taking the time to know "why" often helps in internalizing the information. Knowing the "why" and taking the necessary steps in adhering to TOs or instructions ensures the quality of your work. 

Quality is also linked to timeliness. It is more than just accomplishing a task in a given amount of time. It is also recognizing the amount of time needed to thoroughly complete an objective. More often than not, the suspense for a task is short notice and in addition to all of your other taskings. There is not enough time in the day to complete all of them. This is where you also have control. You must assess whether you have the time to complete them all and if not, then ask which ones take precedence from your supervisor. 

Finally, often times the work that we do is repetitive. We launch and recover five jets, we see four patients for the same thing, we refuel five planes, we review the same type of form 20 times, etc. The volume of work that we do can lead to inattention. We have the TO's open and our eyes see them, but we really aren't reading them. You don't control the volume coming to you, but you do control when to say that it has exceeded your capacity for that given day or time to your supervisor. You also control how you approach this repetitive work. You control the ability to remind yourself that each time you do an action, it is important and needs to be done by the book. Before we have a culture of excellence and safety across the Air Force we need to create that culture in ourselves. 

Luckily for us there is a culture of excellence in the Air Force that was born at its beginning. We want to be the best. Evaluations, inspections, staff assistance visits and awards programs provide feedback on your performance. Granted you do not control the stratifications of your report. However, you can control the internal interpretation of the feedback. Did I do better this quarter than I did the last? How much did I really challenge myself? The great thing about any external feedback is that it offers us a gauge on how well we're accomplishing the mission or which areas need the most improvement. Why wasn't it done safely, accurately and on time? Where can we improve in the future? But, feedback is also internal. We owe it to the mission of Air Power as well as to ourselves to provide an honest evaluation of our own mission accomplishment and ways we can improve in the future. We have an established culture of excellence and safety in our Air Force, but it has to be re-born with the entry of every new Airman. It is a never ending process for all of us. 

"Integrity in all we do," is one of our Air Force core values. It means more than just being honest with others. It means being honest with ourselves. Do your job according to regulations and look in the mirror and ask yourself each day whether you were perfect in what you control and how can you come closer to reaching that perfection in the future.