Mighty Ninety commander pleased with professionalism, mission accomplishment Published Oct. 14, 2010 By Col. Greg Tims 90th Missile Wing commander F. E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo. -- I saw a break in my schedule on Thursday, so I decided to sneak out the back door without Nila knowing and decided to drive around and just see the wing in action. First, I thought the base looked really good. I will have to say though I need one of those signs to put on the back of my car that states: Caution this vehicle will make frequent stops! I simply can't drive past a piece of trash on this base without picking it up. What I find very gratifying is seeing others do the same. You can't teach this. However, Thursday I made very few stops. I find it most satisfying that daily excellence really starts here in our own back yard. If our base looks like a pit, then how would we expect to get the big stuff right? And the big stuff is getting done in a flawless manner. This is the basis for ensuring we provide the combat capability that Air Force Global Strike Command expects out of us. Like I said, it starts right here in our own backyard, and the backyard is looking pretty good! I just can't say enough about the professionalism of Master Sgt. Miguel Diaz, 90th Medical Operations Squadron. Every time, and I mean every time I walk into our clinic and see him, he is wearing a grin and presents himself as a true professional. When I interact with Airmen like Miguel, it recharges my batteries! After a quick stint at the clinic, I made my way over to the 90th Logistics Readiness Squadron's vehicle operations. Tony Janssen, 90th LRS, showed me around. I think I have written about this before, but our on-alert HMMWV rate holds in the mid 90 percent. We have had visitors from other bases come out to look at our processes, because if they get their own alert rate in the 80 percent range, they are ecstatic. Mr. Janssen runs a tight ship, and it shows. Unannounced, we headed in the back area where a barbecue was being held. I was handed a fajita plate made by Staff Sgt. Jourdan Banzon, 90th LRS, and let me tell you, these were the best fajitas I have ever eaten. I just might have to slip over there again Thursday to get another helping! Successful units crack the code on how to work hard and play hard -- in that order I might add. From my perspective, the 90th LRS vehicle section leads the way! John Good, and his safety team from AFGSC, came out to look at our safety program. They gave us a very critical look. In his personal out-brief to me he was complementary of not just our safety office, but the overall safety attitude of this base. He actually coined two of our Airmen. The first member he coined was Senior Airman James Swaim, 90th Security Forces Squadron, for his superb safety attention while manning Gate 1. No surprise to me -- as I have said at least one-thousand times before, our gate guards rock! The second person was Tech. Sgt. Timothy DeWitt, 90th Security Support Squadron. On short notice, the safety team walked in on Tim and wanted to see our vehicle training program. He was able to quickly present the lessons we teach, our Phase-I schedule and the database we use to track training. They asked a few questions and were impressed with his positive attitude and how organized our vehicle training program is. Don't let this inspection pass without fully grasping its true meaning and lessons learned. They not only liked what they saw in the safety office, they liked the safety culture that permeates through this base. Well done to you all! We decided to load up a van with a scaled-down leadership team to observe our base at night. Col. Scott Fox, 90th Missile Wing vice commander; Col. Steve Miller, 90th Security Force Group commander; Col. Sean Boyle, 90th Mission Support Group commander; Lt. Col. Chuck Roberts, 90th Civil Engineering Squadron commander; Maj. Mel Turner, 90th SFS commander; and Chief Master Sgt. Marty Anderson, 90th MW command chief; joined me around 10 p.m. last Friday night for a little excursion. We first popped in on Airman 1st Class David Beck and Airman 1st Class Kevin Walsh, both 90th SFS, manning the front gate. Sterling post briefs were given, which has become the norm for our illustrious gate guard defenders. We stopped some folks leaving the base to ensure their night's plan was solid and executable. While driving around, one thing we did discuss was the way ahead to get the many burnt out light bulbs on base replaced. Colonel Roberts will ensure the base lighting is full up 100 percent. We had an opportunity to hook up with a fire team lead by Senior Airman Randall Rising, and his members, Airman 1st Class Wendel Espy, Airman 1st Class Lenyee Edwards and Airman Derrick Rosonowski, all with the 90th SFS. Don't let their rank fool you, while certainly junior, this was a very lethal team that has the right focus and professionalism. This was truly a very impressive and inspirational team. We dropped in on the 24-hour 90th Civil Engineer Squadron service work center where we watched Jody Helton handoff the baton to Kevin Wiederhoeft. This work center is very unique and helps to ensure all heating, cooling and base electrical systems are working in proper order. We couldn't help but check on the gyms as well as see what was going on at Missile Maintenance Operations Center, Missile Security Center and Traffic Control Center. The MMOC was in good hands with Tech. Sgt. Wally Frost and Staff Sgt. Kevin Cain, both with the 90th Maintenance Operations Squadron. The TCC had a good handle on things with Staff Sgt. Chris Ostrander, Airman 1st Class Jeremiles Vesey and Airman 1st Class Andrew Radcliff, all with the 90th LRS, at the helm. Additionally, the storage controllers, Staff Sgt. Joseph Ramey and Staff Sgt. David VanBeek, both with the 90th SSPTS; Senior Airman James Bartee and Senior Airman Frederick Johnson, both with the 90th SFS; and Senior Airman Damain Garza, 90th Missile Security Forces Squadron, were keeping an eagle eye on those activities, and they had all the security issues well at hand in the MSC. What a true joy it is to get out and see our civilians and Airmen at work in their work centers -- especially late at night when they do not know we are coming. I get daily feedback up close and personal on our Airman and I continue to be impressed with their fortitude and professionalism. It is very clear to me that we remain ready to fight anytime, anywhere. Go Forth and Conquer!