WEBVTT 00:00.009 --> 00:01.953 Hi , good afternoon , Colonel Paul 00:01.953 --> 00:04.065 Sheets 23rd wing commander , happy to 00:04.065 --> 00:06.398 be here today to discuss the word ethos . 00:06.398 --> 00:08.565 So , Chief Master Michael Cherry , the 00:08.565 --> 00:10.509 uh 23rd mission support group , uh 00:10.509 --> 00:12.676 senior enlisted leader also very happy 00:12.676 --> 00:15.850 to be a part of this , you know , 00:15.859 --> 00:18.180 having the war , your mindset . Um and 00:18.190 --> 00:20.629 especially in , in today's environment , 00:20.639 --> 00:22.790 right , of global power competition , 00:23.139 --> 00:25.290 we have to be ready um at , at a 00:25.299 --> 00:27.299 moment's notice and part of that is 00:27.299 --> 00:30.360 being mentally um tough , um resilient 00:30.370 --> 00:32.799 and um and ready for what might 00:32.810 --> 00:34.643 possibly come , you know , being 00:34.643 --> 00:36.532 motivated and taking pride in the 00:36.532 --> 00:38.421 things that we get to do . We all 00:38.421 --> 00:40.643 volunteer to be in the Air Force uh and 00:40.643 --> 00:42.532 the opportunities that we get are 00:42.532 --> 00:44.754 unique . And so it's awesome to be part 00:44.754 --> 00:46.977 of that . And uh so I , I really try to 00:46.977 --> 00:48.977 embrace that and think , you know , 00:48.977 --> 00:51.229 what is my full duty to the , the 00:51.240 --> 00:53.407 mission and the oath that I've taken . 00:53.479 --> 00:57.080 Um and then put my , my full uh efforts 00:57.090 --> 00:59.257 into that to ensure that I'm doing the 00:59.257 --> 01:01.312 best that I can . Uh And then really 01:01.312 --> 01:03.479 reflecting on the , the past as well . 01:03.479 --> 01:05.590 So there's been airmen that have come 01:05.590 --> 01:07.812 before us . Uh And they've done amazing 01:07.812 --> 01:09.923 things , overcome amazing obstacles . 01:09.923 --> 01:12.165 So learn from that , be inspired by 01:12.175 --> 01:14.342 that . And then , you know , even when 01:14.342 --> 01:17.455 I go through a rough patch , what can I 01:17.464 --> 01:19.353 learn from that ? How do I become 01:19.353 --> 01:21.575 better the next day and be successful ? 01:21.575 --> 01:23.686 And like you said , be that example , 01:23.686 --> 01:25.131 for the next generation , 01:29.199 --> 01:31.500 one thing that comes to mind as far as 01:31.510 --> 01:33.800 barriers , right is , is the future , 01:33.980 --> 01:35.924 right ? The unknown . Uh how do we 01:35.924 --> 01:37.980 properly prepare ourselves and our 01:37.989 --> 01:41.580 airmen to be ready to uh you know , 01:41.589 --> 01:43.756 answer , answer our nation's call . My 01:43.756 --> 01:46.019 first deployment was uh as , as a young 01:46.029 --> 01:49.580 airman two weeks after 911 . And uh I 01:49.589 --> 01:52.139 was , I was part of the first wave of 01:52.150 --> 01:55.000 civil engineers uh that deployed in the 01:55.010 --> 01:57.121 initial bear base , construction of a 01:57.121 --> 01:59.319 airbase . And I'll never forget it 01:59.330 --> 02:01.497 because as a young airman , you know , 02:01.497 --> 02:03.552 the unknown , right , 911 happened , 02:03.552 --> 02:05.608 you know , every everyone's scared , 02:05.608 --> 02:07.719 you know , it's chaos . Um But then , 02:07.719 --> 02:09.774 you know , not knowing where we were 02:09.774 --> 02:11.608 going , not knowing what we were 02:11.608 --> 02:13.719 getting ready to get ourselves into , 02:13.719 --> 02:15.830 you know , really , you know , really 02:15.830 --> 02:18.052 affected me . Um However , you know , I 02:18.052 --> 02:20.219 relied on , you know , the team that I 02:20.219 --> 02:22.441 was with , um both , you know , whether 02:22.441 --> 02:24.552 we're first time employers or some of 02:24.552 --> 02:26.552 our experienced individuals , um to 02:26.552 --> 02:28.663 lean off each other , right , to , to 02:28.663 --> 02:27.759 ensure that like , you know , hey , 02:27.770 --> 02:29.714 something we'll get through this , 02:29.714 --> 02:31.937 right ? Uh And then the other pieces of 02:31.937 --> 02:34.899 training , you know , uh uh preparation 02:35.559 --> 02:38.509 uh preparation and training is uh 02:39.679 --> 02:42.020 is essential , right in any uh in 02:42.029 --> 02:44.300 anything that you do . Um And in 02:44.309 --> 02:46.289 anything you do in order to be 02:46.300 --> 02:48.411 successful . And so I would say those 02:48.411 --> 02:50.660 two key pieces of , you know , leaning 02:50.669 --> 02:52.669 on your wingman and relying on your 02:52.669 --> 02:54.780 training can get you uh through a lot 02:54.780 --> 02:57.113 of those barriers . and , and currently , 02:57.113 --> 02:59.169 you know , it's a matter of ensuring 02:59.169 --> 03:01.336 that we're , we're carrying that water 03:01.336 --> 03:03.447 and messaging to our airmen . I think 03:03.447 --> 03:05.669 another possible barrier is just the uh 03:05.669 --> 03:07.502 the idea of the , the what we're 03:07.502 --> 03:09.669 calling like agile combat employment , 03:09.669 --> 03:11.613 we're thinking new things . And so 03:11.613 --> 03:13.889 being able to delegate that 03:13.899 --> 03:16.559 responsibility down to lower levels to 03:16.570 --> 03:18.850 trust them , empower people and then 03:18.860 --> 03:21.220 say , hey , it's OK if it's not perfect , 03:21.229 --> 03:23.173 right ? But you guys are gonna get 03:23.173 --> 03:25.340 after it uh ensuring that we develop a 03:25.340 --> 03:27.340 culture where that is OK . Um But I 03:27.340 --> 03:29.451 think that that's where we need to be 03:29.451 --> 03:31.507 for the air force to be successful . 03:31.507 --> 03:33.562 And if we can get past that while we 03:33.562 --> 03:35.899 all , you know , empower , embrace that , 03:35.910 --> 03:37.966 take risk where it's acceptable . Uh 03:37.966 --> 03:40.188 And then lean on those who have done it 03:40.188 --> 03:42.380 before uh and provide that mentorship 03:42.389 --> 03:44.611 across , you know , we will continue to 03:44.611 --> 03:46.722 be successful in the future and build 03:46.722 --> 03:49.000 the uh where ethos and mindset for all . 03:54.160 --> 03:56.789 So 11 perfect example outside of , you 03:56.800 --> 03:58.800 know , our , our work environment , 03:58.800 --> 04:00.967 right ? Like there's things that we do 04:00.967 --> 04:03.078 on a day to day basis where we have a 04:03.078 --> 04:05.133 choice , physical training , uh when 04:05.133 --> 04:07.133 you're running , you know , whether 04:07.133 --> 04:09.411 it's a mile and a half , five K , 10-K , 04:09.411 --> 04:11.300 half , you know , full marathon . 04:11.300 --> 04:13.244 Everyone gets to that mental point 04:13.244 --> 04:12.589 where they're just , you know , their 04:12.600 --> 04:14.878 body sound like , you know , something , 04:14.878 --> 04:17.100 it will be ok . Just go ahead and start 04:17.100 --> 04:16.899 jogging walking or whatever the case 04:16.910 --> 04:19.160 may be . But you have the choice , you 04:19.170 --> 04:21.392 know , whether or not to , to listen to 04:21.392 --> 04:23.392 that or to push past what you think 04:23.392 --> 04:25.448 your limits are , you know , we have 04:25.448 --> 04:27.614 airman and I was one of them , right ? 04:27.614 --> 04:29.726 It was , you know , very reluctant to 04:29.726 --> 04:32.059 raise my hand in doing anything , right ? 04:32.059 --> 04:33.892 But I've had supervisors , I saw 04:33.892 --> 04:36.114 potential in me and they're like Airman 04:36.114 --> 04:38.170 Charity . I need you to do this . Um 04:38.200 --> 04:40.200 And of course I go do it . But then 04:40.200 --> 04:42.533 after I'm , I'm thinking to myself like , 04:42.533 --> 04:44.756 wow , that wasn't that bad , I think to 04:44.756 --> 04:47.899 the um the education that we get 04:47.910 --> 04:50.132 outside is also can be useful , right ? 04:50.132 --> 04:51.966 So there's something that you're 04:51.966 --> 04:53.966 interested in . Uh It may not align 04:53.966 --> 04:55.854 with whatever specialty code that 04:55.854 --> 04:58.021 you're at . But why don't you go ahead 04:58.021 --> 05:00.132 and embrace that ? You know , the Air 05:00.132 --> 04:59.549 Force has point of opportunities where 04:59.559 --> 05:02.019 you can learn , get higher education 05:02.250 --> 05:04.417 because you never know when that extra 05:04.417 --> 05:06.528 skill set will be useful in the tough 05:06.528 --> 05:08.583 situations , but you made yourself a 05:08.583 --> 05:10.583 little bit better . Uh And you're a 05:10.583 --> 05:12.806 little bit more successful than when uh 05:12.806 --> 05:12.679 when it comes to a fight . You know , 05:12.690 --> 05:15.260 it's like a , a defender who also takes 05:15.269 --> 05:17.491 the , you know , mechanics classes down 05:17.491 --> 05:19.491 at the community college um for the 05:19.491 --> 05:21.547 technical college and they can apply 05:21.547 --> 05:23.602 that . Then when we're at that small 05:23.602 --> 05:25.602 fob on , on some small island to be 05:25.602 --> 05:27.769 able to help prepare the mo motor pool 05:27.769 --> 05:29.936 for the operations that we need . So I 05:29.936 --> 05:31.713 think , you know , keeping that 05:31.713 --> 05:33.769 motivation that um hunger to learn , 05:33.769 --> 05:35.936 make yourself better is definitely key 05:35.936 --> 05:39.850 across the board . You know , 05:39.859 --> 05:41.970 we've all faced uh failure within our 05:41.980 --> 05:45.019 careers . Um And uh that there's times 05:45.029 --> 05:47.239 where you can get down on yourself 05:47.250 --> 05:49.472 because you , maybe you didn't have the 05:49.472 --> 05:49.380 motivation or you didn't have the 05:49.390 --> 05:51.540 skills to do what you needed . I know 05:51.549 --> 05:53.760 personally , you know , I've been on a 05:53.769 --> 05:55.859 mission before where I wasn't 05:55.869 --> 05:58.549 successful , how I respond to that was , 05:58.609 --> 06:00.665 you know , we , we talked about as a 06:00.665 --> 06:02.998 team , we developed our lessons learned . 06:02.998 --> 06:05.399 Uh And then we moved on from that . Um 06:05.519 --> 06:07.408 It , it's actually an inspiration 06:07.408 --> 06:09.859 because we did fail . What more could I 06:09.869 --> 06:13.149 have done in training or preparing our , 06:13.160 --> 06:15.329 our forces or getting after resources 06:15.339 --> 06:17.228 to ensure that we would have been 06:17.228 --> 06:19.228 successful in that one time that we 06:19.228 --> 06:21.339 failed ? You know , but I , I like to 06:21.339 --> 06:23.506 say , I'm only as good as I am today , 06:23.506 --> 06:25.672 I try to learn something new every day 06:25.672 --> 06:27.895 and by embracing that , I think you can 06:27.895 --> 06:27.589 recover from those setbacks that you 06:27.600 --> 06:29.767 would have uh and be successful in the 06:29.767 --> 06:31.822 future , not only for yourself , but 06:31.822 --> 06:33.656 also the team . Because of those 06:33.656 --> 06:35.933 experiences , you bring absolutely and , 06:35.933 --> 06:38.044 and , and you bring up a good point , 06:38.044 --> 06:40.378 right ? As far as uh failure , you know , 06:40.378 --> 06:42.544 in , in today's age , right ? We we we 06:42.544 --> 06:44.489 we charge our , you know , our our 06:44.489 --> 06:46.433 subordinates , right ? Our our our 06:46.433 --> 06:48.656 future leaders , right to not be scared 06:48.656 --> 06:50.489 of failure . And part of that is 06:50.489 --> 06:52.767 learning the lesson , right ? Like why , 06:52.767 --> 06:54.767 why did we fail ? If um whether you 06:54.767 --> 06:56.878 know whether a task or uh promotion , 06:56.878 --> 06:58.822 whatever the case may be , right ? 06:58.822 --> 06:58.309 There's something that you can learn 06:58.320 --> 07:00.320 from that and then learning from it 07:00.320 --> 07:03.130 also incorporates growth , right ? As 07:03.140 --> 07:05.690 an individual , there's a quote that 07:05.700 --> 07:08.029 comes to mind um that , that our um 07:08.040 --> 07:10.790 former uh C AC , right , the senior 07:10.809 --> 07:13.350 enlisted advisor to the chairman , uh 07:13.359 --> 07:15.359 chief Math Sergeant , retired Coone 07:15.510 --> 07:19.390 Lopez once said um amateurs trained to 07:19.399 --> 07:21.790 get it right . Professionals trained to 07:21.799 --> 07:22.709 never get it wrong .