Helicopter training encourages long-range vision

  • Published
  • By Col. Cynthia Wong
  • 514th Mission Support Group
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  In my former life, I was an Army aviator--a helicopter pilot. I remember well the days of learning to hover. The state of Alabama seemed too small!

At first, I focused more inside the helicopter. This practice caused me to over-control the helicopter which made it difficult to keep it steady. When I shifted my focus to some distance outside the helicopter, I tended to make smaller inputs and it became easier to keep it level with the horizon.

Learning to hover taught me a valuable lesson--the importance of maintaining a long-term perspective in the midst of uncertainty.

One way to set up a long-term perspective is to set long-term goals for what can be achieved in the future. The Airmen of the 514th Mission Support Group are working towards a vision that is based on the new Air Force vision released this past fall.

The 514th Mission Support Group will be a trusted, reliable wing partner to our customers, known for providing outstanding support. We will provide highly trained and equipped personnel to aid commanders. We will excel as stewards of our resources.

Being a trusted and reliable wing partner that provides outstanding support is a very basic, but vital, characteristic of the group. Outstanding support is defined by three elements: speed, accuracy and attitude.

First, everyone in the group should be responsive, meaning we should quickly acknowledge our customers' needs or requests. We may not have the answer right away, but we can at least let our customers know that we are working towards getting it.
Second, we should always provide accurate information and products. Finally, we must carry out our duties with the utmost respect and friendliness, no matter if there are 50 customers or just one.

This is the vision I have challenged the group's Airmen to strive for, and though we have some work to do in some areas, I know we are capable of achieving it.

I encourage our customers who feel they are not receiving outstanding support to let someone know, starting with the chain of command. This will help us look at our processes and fix it.

By focusing on a long-term vision, the mission support group can achieve a culture in which it is known command-wide for providing outstanding support both to our customers and our nation.