Wing leaders: UCI is time to showcase excellence, pride

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Duane Helton
  • 355th Fighter Wing Inspections, Plans & Programs
DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  The arrival of the Air Combat Command Inspector General team is only nine days away. The people of the 355th Fighter Wing, 55th Electronic Combat Group and 943rd Rescue Group have spent countless hours over the past several months immersing themselves into compliance and standardization requirements lists, examining our processes and preparing presentations for the inspectors.

You have probably noticed your section, flight, or squadron leadership putting in quite a few extra hours -- staying late or maybe even coming in on the weekends -- even more than usual.
At your level, it may seem like the UCI is just an intrusion to your day-to-day activities, but in the minds of our wing leadership, it's much more than that.

Col. John Cherrey, 355th Fighter Wing commander, recently shared some of his thoughts on what a UCI means to him:

"I think that the most important thing to remember that this is not something that occurs in isolation, that there is a reason behind doing a UCI. Every day we should be doing the actions that they are checking up on. This is part of day-to-day operations.

"Everybody here is working hard, and now it's just a matter of showing the IG what we do day in and day out...Remember back on the hard work that you've done all year long and the fact that you should be proud of the work that you do.

"If you're giving 110 percent, if you're doing your best every day, you have nothing to be ashamed of. When the UCI inspectors show up at your doorstep, welcome them in, show them the great programs that you have...let your work stand for itself.

"It is a validation of what we believe...that Davis-Monthan is ready to go to war. We're just inviting the inspector general (team) in to kind of put a stamp on that and say, 'Yes, they do follow the regulations and meet the standards that we've set forth for a combat wing, and we are ready to deploy and employ them based on those standards.'"

What many might not realize is that one of the major factors in a UCI is presentation. No, not eleventy billion powerpoint slides, but rather the presentation of ourselves, our section, our unit, the wing and D-M to the IG team.

Col. Brian Hastings, 355th Fighter Wing vice commander, talked specifically about the concept of presentation:

"I think that there are two things. The first one is attitude. Smiles and courtesy are very contagious. Be proud of what you do because our Airmen are the finest in ACC - the finest in the world.

"Our Airmen are doing great things out there. But some of those Airmen are brand new. Inspectors are going to come into your shop, and they're going to ask you questions, and I want to make sure that not only our youngest Airmen, but our supervisors and commanders are greeting those inspectors and bringing them into your shop and you are showing them those things that you are very proud of. Whether they or you think those are best practices or not, I want you to showcase those programs, and I want you to do it with pride. Because it's that showcasing and that attitude and that courtesy that may buy one of your young Airmen a best practice, or an IG award, or something that they will take ...and you'll get to reward your good Airmen, for all of the work that they have done here. So I need everyone from the one-stripers that are out there on the line doing some of the yeoman's work to our field grade officers who are commanding squadrons out there to understand that attitude is contagious. It can go a long way.

"And even if an inspector comes into your shop and sees something wrong -- if that shop shows that we are aggressively pursuing a fix to that problem, and we have a process in place that will keep us from repeating these errors in the future, that's a win. That's a win both for us, and it will make the IG feel good about D-M (and) that we have our act together."