Commentary

Mission readiness goes far beyond just being prepared in the workplace for the call of duty. The senior leader speed mentoring seminar on Dec. 16 reminded me of how service members can accomplish this in their daily lives.

The last Monday of 2014 I reported to the Fitness Assessment Cell to complete my annual physical training test, along with many others. As we weighed in, got measured and paired up, I found myself partnered with a young Airman. We completed our pushup portion and moved on to sit-ups. As her turn finished and the physical training administrator began recording scores, panic ensued. I had counted 34 sit-ups, and 38 was the minimum they required.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I have the greatest job in the Air Force. I have a front row seat to witness amazing work accomplished daily by the men and women of Team Ramstein, and I’m looking forward to the accomplishments we will achieve together in 2015.

I’ve been to Toyota, Caterpillar, John Deere, Standard Aero, Wal-Mart and many other industries to study their streamlined processes, also known as their lean manufacturing processes, but the one factory I’d love to see as the pinnacle of lean operations is Santa’s workshop in the North Pole.

“Throughout history, people with new ideas — who think differently and try to change things — have always been called troublemakers.” — Richelle Mead, author.

I am an Airman in the U.S. Air Force. I am also a niece, cousin, sister and daughter.

Just as Airmen broke the sound barrier and pioneered new paths to space, Airmen will pioneer new ways to prevent sexual assault in the Air Force.