Making your own good ol' Air Force days...90 seconds

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Dain Kleiv
  • 22nd Maintenance Squadron commander
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. --  We often talk about taking 90 seconds of face time because that's all that it takes sometimes to learn a little bit more about each other.

When is the last time you talked with your supervisor about your goals? Not just about work, but your personal goals as well. Do you expect your supervisor to help you out and provide resources to get you through the good and the bad times?

If we communicate better and allow others to know what is going on, we enable supervisors to engage and help.

As a supervisor, it's important to be aware of the many resources available through the Air Force and our vast amount of supporting agencies. Once we are aware of the resources, we need to know how to apply them. Tapping into the base resources, we can lead individuals through the good and the bad. We can also build camaraderie through participating in base events and activities as a unit. Base events are available to help build stronger more resilient relationships so we are able to "bounce back".

We talk about how the Air Force has changed with reductions in manning and resource constraints and reminisce about the "good ol' days" when we used to have more get-togethers and hang out after work. There is no reason why that can't still happen.

It takes active involvement by individuals and personal leadership to get the groups together. There are many organizations including Unit Advisory Council, Top 3, Route 5/6, and Airman's Council that set up activities from promotion ceremonies to squadron picnics and provide volunteer opportunities on and off base. All these organizations and activities are to help educate and mentor Airmen and to provide opportunities to support each other and the community. This is where the future good ol' days are made.

How can you help make yourself and others more resilient? Get involved and take those extra 90 seconds of face time to learn a little more and get involved. The future's good ol' Air Force's days are today.