Working together as cogs in the wheel: Warriors of the North - making it happen

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. David Sprague
  • 319th Operations Group commander
Grand Forks AFB, ND --  What does it matter? How do I make a difference? Ever get caught up in the grind of your job specialty and wonder what difference it would make if it didn't get done?
In a time of war, it makes all the difference to do it right, on time, every time. Not all our assigned tasks give us that sense of urgency, the immediate feedback we desire or a sense of importance. 

Let me share a few thoughts on what a difference we make as a team. We have at least one 319th Operations Group squadron commander deployed at all times, and, like now, we often have two of them out leading expeditionary squadrons made up of Airmen of many specialties. The feedback I get from the commanders has become almost routine, but it's nothing less than amazing. The daily missions are quite varied: protecting troops, extending reconnaissance over the enemy, bridging supplies over distant waters and hostile nations, facilitating rescues and evacuating wounded. Their support to the fight often swings the balance from the impossible to possible and from failure to success. 

What we try to impress upon our tanker crews is the importance of what they are doing and connect them to the guys on the ground. It's all about protecting the ground forces. We also refuel receivers involved in counter improvised explosive device missions and traditional close air support. If you've ever watched any footage on how devastating an IED is, you begin to see how sobering and important it is to be on time to support these missions. 

It's crucial that we learn from our mistakes as well; that it's better when we get it right the first time. Our commanders often review aircraft mishaps where human factors (pilot error) have been causal. In most cases, the crews were trained, competent, good crews, who got task saturated, tired, and applied poor risk management or failed to plan properly. Folks, these aren't just pitfalls of flying airplanes; they can happen to anyone, in any specialty. 

Never take anything for granted and nothing you do is routine in time of war. Know how important each task, of each job, is to safe and effective ops.
Let me pause a minute and get back to the difference you make. If you're a Warrior of the North you can substitute every reference here to tankers and tanker crews and replace them with your Air Force specialty. That's right; no tanker mission ever made it off successfully without your support. So, if you ever thought you didn't make a difference or that your task, not being done on time didn't matter, think again. It could make the difference between successfully supporting troops in combat and needing to generate a medical evacuation mission. 

Prepare now. Act now. Get it right now. Be on time now. Don't wait to be deployed to join the fight. The fight's on here and now. You've heard it before, "train like we fight and fight like we train." Every part, every form, every call, every meeting, every fuel sample, every training session, every guard mount and every repair we take part in makes a difference here at home and ultimately prepare us for duty in the area of responsibility. 

The pace here is pretty fast. We're on track to fly another record year of sorties and hours. But none of that means anything if the lessons we learned along the way can't be transferred to the fight. That is: to do it right, on time, every time. 

Be proud of being in the 319th Air Refueling Wing. You're respected around the world. In a tanker wing we're all about support-let's get it right -let's make a difference.