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The Journey Continues…

  • Published
  • By Maj. Gen. Anthony J. Cotton
  • 20th Air Force and Task Force 214 commander
It's wonderful to again be a part of the nation's ICBM team! Marsha and I are excited to return to the mission that has provided us so much personal and professional camaraderie and growth through the years. As I begin serving with you, I want to share a few thoughts that will help you get acquainted with me and understand my intent.

I am an Airman, first and foremost. Even though our 10,000+ military and civilian members wear different rank and specialize in varied career fields, we in 20th Air Force are American Airmen first. My father was an Airman -- a chief master sergeant -- and my son is an Airman, so service to our nation runs deep in our family. Each of us has a unique story that led us to serve in our Air Force, so it's this commitment to service and to each other as diverse Airmen that makes us a dominating combat force.

I'm 100 percent committed to cultivating your competence as a subject matter expert through continued professional development to ensure enduring excellence in every aspect of our mission. We'll continue to grow our ability to perform critical self-assessment through leaders engaged with you where you perform your mission and through more formal education and training opportunities that encourage you to be innovative, poised to explore and implement new ways of doing business. Bottom line: our ability to coach, train and mentor Airmen underpins our ability to be compliant in executing safe, secure and effective operational processes.

Previous 20th AF and Task Force 214 commander, Lt. Gen.Weinstein's superb leadership laid the foundation for positive changes to our culture and enterprise. I want to continue to foster and empower our leaders at all levels; we are all change agents. Remember, continuing to develop our warrior ethos enables us to maintain our composure when faced with adversity, whether within our 33,600-square-mile area of operations or down range.

Compliance, competence, composure and commitment... these are my four Cs. They are tenets that are important and powerful tools for mission success.

Families and loved ones are the heartbeat of our force. Marsha and I will do our best to ensure our bases provide resources to help you care for members of your family so you're able to focus on the mission when on-duty and enjoy quality time with your loved ones when off duty. To our families: service to our nation doesn't stop with your Airman; you make incredible sacrifices to support and defend the United States each and every day, and Marsha and I appreciate you more than words can express!

I am humbled and extremely proud to serve as your commander and look forward to meeting many of you in your work centers as I visit our wings and headquarters units in the coming weeks.