Together everyone achieves more

  • Published
  • By Chief Master Sgt. Thomas Pachniak
  • 90th Mission Support Group superintendent
F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. --  One of my Airmen recently asked me, "Who has the most important job in the Air Force?"

As I stood there thinking about this, I had to tell the young man it was him -- as long as he belongs to the team. Back in the day, one of my supervisors told me to become part of the team, together everyone achieves more, or I would have a rough life in the military.
As the interim 90th Mission Support Group superintendent, I've had the opportunity to work on some projects, and I could not have accomplished these without the support of the other groups; the team worked together on the weapons storage area, the nuclear weapon accident incident exercise, Cheyenne Frontier Days, the 50th ICBM Anniversary symposium and a wing escort program, to name a few of the big ones.

Since the 90th MSG is where I currently sit, let me brag a little on my team of military, civilians and contractors who carried out the group's mission during the latest Wyoming blizzard. I had the opportunity to go around to several work areas on this down day to see how the team carried out the mission. In the 90th Civil Engineer Squadron arena, the dirt boys were plowing snow in the WSA, streets and parking lots so the mission-essential missile wing team could get to work on base. They also provided sander support to a 90th Maintenance Group team responding to an emergency in the missile field. The Warren Fire Department responded with five other fire departments 17 miles off-base to a multi-vehicle accident. They assisted in extricating four injured victims, evacuated two more with amputation injuries and assisted in the cleanup of hazardous waste spills that resulted from the accident.

The energy management control systems shop ran emergency customer service calls and kept an eye on buildings so they would not freeze. The missile engineering flight worked closely with the local utility companies on power issues and coordinated snow removal with state and county workers to clear our missile field roads as part of the team.

The 90th Logistics Readiness Squadron had people in vehicle operations and maintenance taking care of transportation needs and providing safe cargo holding areas for people stranded from across the country. In addition, the Warren Traffic Control Center tracked vehicles and road conditions in the missile field along with the 90th MXG and 90th Security Forces Group team.

Our 90th Force Support Squadron had contractors, military and civil service team members providing hot meals for the base dormitory residents and visitors in the dining facility. This team also provided comfortable rooms for base members who could not get home in the storm and cleared snow from the sidewalks so people had a safe path to and from some of the open services facilities.

I did not get a chance to visit the 90th Communications Squadron on this day, but I can tell you this, when I picked up my phone to call someone, it worked and when I turned on my computer, it spit out all the e-mail this team member could stand. Last, but not least, I must mention the 90th Contracting Squadron, they help the wing complete the mission when our in-house workforce cannot meet the mission requirements. Talk about being part of a team.

So, the next time you think about who has the most important job in the Air Force, I think the answer should be all the team members. No one can accomplish the mission alone.