Attitude is Everything

  • Published
  • By Chief Master Sgt. Marty Anderson
  • 90th Missile Wing command chief
F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. --  As I read every single comment from the Support and Resiliency Survey, one perpetual theme kept hitting me -- Attitude. There were a few comments that grabbed my attention stating, "Nothing is going to change" or "I can't make a difference." But, the comments that I really focused on were those stating your ideas to help make this wing even better.

Let me be very straight forward on a couple of points. There are Airmen in our great Air Force who have negative attitudes and are just whiners. They seem to do everything in their power to make life miserable for others. Even after the supervisor tries to work with those individuals, they still complain about everything and have zero ideas on how to make improvements, let alone suggest ideas. Those type of Airmen need to separate and find something else to do. The Air Force is still looking at reducing the force by 6,000 Airmen -- they can go to vMPF and apply for early separation. In the long run, they are more of a detriment than a benefit. But, I owe it to them to ensure they are not leaving because of an unprofessional working environment.

Second, there are people who feel they contribute to the mission and want to see positive change but feel their voice won't be heard, so they don't do anything. This is not what the Air Force, specifically our wing, needs. I expect you to have the fortitude to talk with your supervisors and coworkers about issues and propose your ideas. Maybe not all your ideas will be accepted, but at least you care and are trying to make a difference. I have always appreciated Airmen who raise concerns and suggest ideas, because they care about the future state of the organization.

Some of my potential worst assignments turned out to be excellent assignments because of the people. They believed in taking care of the mission and the people. No one tolerated drama in the work place. We had a belief that we are all in this together and complaining to hear ourselves complain was pointless. Instead, what we did was come up with ideas on how to make what we have even better. There was a synergistic team effect that was created, and no one person was going to destroy that.

Every Airman is vital to accomplishing this wing's mission. I just returned from a temporary duty assignment where I received briefings from National Security and Defense Threat Reduction Agencies, and in my opinion, our mission is just as vital now as it was during the Cold War. It is essential supervisors ensure an environment of day-to-day excellence while recognizing each person's contributions. Supervisors should continue to develop a cohesive team while looking for opportunities for their Airmen to be continually challenged.

Supervisors have a duty to ensure a professional working environment is established, but each of us have an obligation to be a positive contributing team member helping our supervisors achieve this end. I want to see Airmen promoted who have this attitude and care more about the mission and welfare of others than themselves.

I truly believe we have a great team here at the Mighty Ninety. I see the enthusiasm when I am out visiting sections. I see the passion our Airmen have when they are explaining to me their respective contribution to our mission. This tells me a lot about the leadership in that organization. But, what our Airmen don't know is, their positive attitude has an impact on me - they motivate me to work even harder to ensure I do everything in my power to improve their quality of life. What is your daily attitude like, and is it worth catching?