Cutting corners costs lives

  • Published
  • By Maj. Martha Kuder
  • 931st Air Refueling Group
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Editor's Note: Major Kuder is a performance manager for the 931st Air Refueling Group. She wrote the following commentary while deployed with the 379th Expeditionary Operations Group in Southwest Asia.

Many people who have not deployed feel they are not "contributing to the war effort." We, as a military at large, tend to perpetuate this thought process.

From my experiences here, I can definitely say this is an incorrect presumption. Every job in the Air Force impacts mission success or failure at any deployed location. Recent personnel cuts have made this especially true.

If our home station maintainers do not keep all systems on an aircraft in top operational condition, for example, the aircraft will fail at the deployed location. If the aircraft comes to us simply "meeting specs," it will not remain mission capable for long.

We are doing quick turns on almost every jet we have here, and we are doing them repetitively. In theater, our maintainers do what it takes to keep our weapons systems ready for the mission and they do it well. However, they cannot be successful if they receive poorly serviced aircraft from the home station.

If home station fitness monitors and managers do not properly manage the fitness program, our warriors collapse under the rigors of deployment. You cannot sustain high quality output at a pace of 12-20 hour days for six or seven days per week for two to three months if you are not fit.

The fitness program actually has little to do with being able to run 1.5 miles in X amount of time, or being able to pump out a certain number of situps and pushups. Yes, that is how the Air Force measures fitness; but the test is the means, not the goal.

The goal is for our warriors to build up their stamina to sustain the rigorous lifestyle we require of them at the deployed location: long hours, hard work, strained living conditions, inadequate sleep, etc, etc. Our home station fitness monitors and managers directly impact the success of deployed missions by assisting our Airmen in improving/maintaining individual fitness.

If home station Unit Deployment Managers do not keep apprised of requirements at deployed locations, individuals arrive in-theater ill prepared to make mission. When this happens, it negatively impacts many aspects of the deployed location.

We are not equipped to provide much of the required training in the theater. Our supply system is not prepared to provide items which individuals were to have deployed with.

Let's say someone arrives without a chemical mask. The deployed UDM (who has 10 other additional duties) must stop his or her primary job to find out how to get the mask.
Keep in mind the deployed UDM probably just arrived, had three days of turnover, two of which he or she was severely jet-lagged, and has never been a UDM before. The new UDM received 3 hours of training, none of which had anything to do with supply.

After numerous phone calls, a mask is located. When the UDM goes to supply, the supply person must stop gathering supplies for the warrior headed downrange to find the appropriate mask for the individual who deployed without one.

In the meantime, there is a base-wide exercise. The Airman who doesn't have a mask is highlighted as "not meeting standards." The Airman's commander gets to explain to the installation commander, and all the commander's in between, why his or her oganization failed the exercise.

So, due to this one, seemingly small, oversight of the home station UDM, many individuals are unable to "meet mission." On the other hand, if the home station UDM does their job well, the individual arrives with all required equipment, training, etc. and can immediately begin successful assimilation into the deployed mission.

This same theme holds true for all other jobs and duties. No one can concentrate on their deployed duties if they are not getting paid. If their military records are not correct, they must focus on that correction prior to mission execution. If they are not properly trained, due to negligence on their part or that of their supervisor, they are ill-equipped to successfully execute the mission.

Some situations have a more direct impact, but all have a negative or positive impact directly related to home station support and preparation. No member of the U.S. military should ever let anyone say they did not directly contribute because they have not deployed. We all contribute each and every day. We are the ones who choose if the contribution is positive or negative.

What you do back home every day directly impacts the deployed mission. If you choose to cut corners, become complacent or simply not give your best, you are contributing to loss of lives in combat.

By choosing excellence in all the Air Force asks you to do, every single time, you are enabling success of our nation's War on Terrorism.