Readiness leads to success – stay mission focused

by Brig. Gen. Mark Dillon
86th Airlift Wing commander

Today marks the end of the first week of the 86th Airlift Wing’s and 435th Air Ground Operation Wing’s operational readiness exercise, and as we move forward with the Phase II portion next week, I want to take this time to remind everyone of why we do these exercises and why it’s important to focus and strive to do our best each and every day.

Without a doubt, our goal must remain to provide rapid mobility and agile combat support for U.S. forces, which includes the skills needed to deploy our people and equipment in a rapid manner. The best way to ensure we can meet those responsibilities is to test ourselves through exercises like this.

Inspections that evaluate our operational readiness are how we demonstrate to ourselves, our leaders and the world our ability to meet our mission tasks. Our nation relies on us to fulfill our responsibility of defending our national interests and values; we will not let our country down. The Phase I portion we completed was designed to exercise how well we prepare for and execute the transition from day-to-day operations to employment in a combat environment. Next week, we’ll measure our ability to survive and operate in the combat environment.

We should take a hard, honest look at how we operate and always look for ways to improve our efficiency.

Our most valuable assets are our people, and OREs help prepare our people to operate in Overseas Contingency Operations, while also fostering a culture that promotes unit compliance.

The men and women of the 86th AW and 435th AGOW have a seasoned history of great accomplishments, and we all have an important role in tackling the challenges ahead.

While never overlooking the care of our Air Force families and our deployed Airmen, we must continue to demonstrate, with focused training and commitment exactly how we accomplish our vital mission day-in and day-out.

Remember, stay focused on safety and the fundamentals of mission accomplishment, and I have no doubt that you all will shine in the end.

As always, thanks to you and your families for all of you
dedication and hard work. You truly are our most valuable assets.