One team...combat ready!

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Sondra M. Escutia
  • 49th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  The 49th Fighter Wing recently released its Strategic Plan for 2009, a plan that explains the FW mission, visions and focus areas.

Col. Jeff Harrigian, 49 FW commander, explained that the document allows all of Team Holloman to understand the priorities of the wing's senior leaders and lays out the areas they felt were critical to success in 2009.

"The reality is this isn't something where Airmen are given actual items to go out and do, but it lays out the philosophy of the leadership so that they can be in their boss' mind as they go out and execute the mission on a day-to-day basis," he said.

Along with the 49 FW's plan, it also states the Chief of Staff of the Air Force's vision and priorities as well as those of Combat Air Forces and 12th Air Force.

"Our intent is that as our Airmen read through [the plan], they're going to see that the Chief of Staff's priorities are very much represented in what's important to us at the 49th," said Colonel Harrigian.

This year's four focus areas are readiness, developing and caring for Airmen and their families, infrastructure and engagement.

According to the Strategic Plan, readiness is fundamental to mission delivery. It incorporates people, equipment and ability to deliver them on-time to meet mission taskings. An optimal way to ensure readiness is by training through exercises, and the plan states the 49 FW will execute one per quarter in 2009, consisting of two Phase 1 and two Phase 2 exercises.

"My intent with readiness is also to transition from the culture of 'when we do an exercise, we're going to train'," said Colonel Harrigian. "No. We're going to train 365 days a year, 24/7 to make sure we're always ready and then we'll use our exercises to evaluate how we're doing on our training."

Readiness also requires that Airmen and their families are well taken care of in order to be combat-ready, leading to the next focus area.

"Developing and caring for our Airmen is a focus area that's directly in line with essentially all my senior leader's priorities," said the colonel. "But let's quantify that. I think it's important to get beyond the words because most of the Airmen have heard that a million times."

What it really means is to take the time to ensure Airmen are receiving feedback and that recognition is given to outstanding performers, he said. Also, building tomorrow's leaders today through professional development, as well as providing opportunities for college education as appropriate.

"The other part of that has to do with the term we've used a lot: quality of life," said Colonel Harrigian. "Really it has to do with making sure we have programs and facilities that support not only our Airmen but their families."

Holloman's infrastructure, including buildings, workspace, roads and networks, is also a focus area which will be assessed. A coherent plan will then be put together that prioritizes resources and funding to meet requirements and to modernize the infrastructure.

"Fundamentally in the Air Force, the base is a weapon system and we need to treat it as a weapon system," he said. "It's going to be difficult and it's going to take some effort but it's what we have to do to have a base that is modernized and sustained through the next 15 to 20 years."

The last focus area, engagement, is an all encompassing term to include how information is gathered and shared as well as being proactive by anticipating challenges. The plan states Team Holloman will work with civic leaders, military leaders and local communities.

"We want to inform, educate and build relationships with these folks so that collectively we work together to not only deliver our mission, but also to help them so it's a two-way street," said the colonel. "I also want to engage our Airmen and find out what their feedback is so we can ensure our Airmen are aware of how they're impacting our mission, what's going on on the base and what's coming up."

The 49 FW vision for 2009 is "One Team...Combat Ready" and it's meaning is much larger than the statement.

"When I think of a team, I think of folks that work together and play together. They understand the commander's intent, they back each other up and they do that all in the efforts of delivering the mission," he said. "My intent is that collectively, as a wing, we're doing all those types of things."

Sharing information and communication is the key to successfully delivering the mission, said the colonel, which leads to the next point: being combat-ready.

"Regardless of what our Airmen are doing, they need to be prepared to deliver the mission in support of what the Air Force has tasked us to do," he said. "Although that may not mean specifically a combat mission, if they're combat ready, they're going to be ready for anything. That's the goal of building a team that's working together."

The 2009 Strategic Plan can be found on Holloman's main website at www.holloman.af.mil, and Colonel Harrigian encourages all Airmen to check it out.

"I'd like the Airmen to take the time to read this," he said. "It's not a long read and it'll give them a good roadmap to our way ahead in 2009 and help them understand what's on the minds of their senior leaders."