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Commander's Corner: Together...We Are Laughlin

Col. Charlie Velino, 47th Flying Training Wing commander, speaks on what "We Are Laughlin" means, and why Airmen should take ownership of their Air Force. "It’s easy to gripe about the Air Force, gripe about Air Education and Training Command, and definitely to gripe about Laughlin," Velino said. "But when we own it, when we make it ours, one, it gets harder to gripe, and two, we want to make it better." (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Benjamin N. Valmoja)

Col. Charlie Velino, 47th Flying Training Wing commander, speaks on what "We Are Laughlin" means, and why Airmen should take ownership of their Air Force. "It’s easy to gripe about the Air Force, gripe about Air Education and Training Command, and definitely to gripe about Laughlin," Velino said. "But when we own it, when we make it ours, one, it gets harder to gripe, and two, we want to make it better." (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Benjamin N. Valmoja)

Col. Charlie Velino, 47th Flying Training Wing commander, speaks on what "We Are Laughlin" means, and why Airmen should take ownership of their Air Force. "It’s easy to gripe about the Air Force, gripe about Air Education and Training Command, and definitely to gripe about Laughlin," Velino said. "But when we own it, when we make it ours, one, it gets harder to gripe, and two, we want to make it better." (U.S. Air Force graphic by Airman 1st Class Marco A. Gomez)

Col. Charlie Velino, 47th Flying Training Wing commander, speaks on what "We Are Laughlin" means, and why Airmen should take ownership of their Air Force. "It’s easy to gripe about the Air Force, gripe about Air Education and Training Command, and definitely to gripe about Laughlin," Velino said. "But when we own it, when we make it ours, one, it gets harder to gripe, and two, we want to make it better." (U.S. Air Force graphic by Airman 1st Class Marco A. Gomez)

LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --

Hopefully by now you’ve heard me say it. ”We are Laughlin!”  Sure, every now and then I get the “Da---Da-Da---Da---Da-Da-Da” (think Farmers Insurance commercial), and I’m okay with that. But more often than that I get a more serious question, “What does it mean?” Or better yet, “So what?”  Both are fair questions, and hopefully after hearing what “We are Laughlin” means to me, both will be answered.

 

This is my third opportunity to command in our great Air Force (note--I said “our” Air Force, not “the” Air Force—more on that shortly). The first was way back in 2010 at Dover AFB, Delaware. As a career C-17 pilot, I could imagine no better job than the opportunity to command an operational C-17 squadron. At Dover, I was given that opportunity. I have many vivid memories, too many good ones to count, a handful of bad, and a host of lessons learned. One of my more vivid memories happened on day one. As I walked into the command section that first day, my secretary said something that forever changed my perspective on what it means to command an organization. “Welcome to the 3rd Airlift Squadron, this is your squadron, what do you want to do?” Sounds simple enough, but I was truly petrified. My squadron? What do I want to do? I imagine there are plenty of folks out there who would say “Yes! It’s about time!” As for me, I reverted to the answer that got me through college, “I don’t know. What would you do?”

 

And surprisingly, it turns out that from a leadership perspective, that’s a great answer. The folks in the squadron knew what we needed to do. They had the answers. They had the ideas. They were passionate, excited, motivated and ready to do great things; as long as I was ready to listen, support, encourage and take action. The truth was, it wasn’t my squadron…it was our squadron.  And when I say “our,” I mean everyone (total force Airmen, families, and our community partners). From that point on, pronouns became significantly more important to me. It wasn’t “the” Air Force, it was “my” air force (or better yet, “our” air force). I didn’t talk about “the” wing, I talked about “our” wing.  And yes, it was “our” squadron. We owned it.

 

There’s something I find profoundly interesting about how people act when they own something. My first car was a severely dented, barely drivable, 1973 Volkswagen “Bug.” Everyone, and I mean everyone, made fun of that car. Friends, parents, teachers, random people in parking lots; they griped about how it looked, how it sounded and how it ran. But to me, it was awesome.  Why? Because it was mine. I firmly believe we need to look at our air force, our wing, your group, your squadron, your unit and your work center in the same way. Own it! It’s easy to gripe about the Air Force, gripe about Air Education and Training Command, and definitely to gripe about Laughlin. But when we own it, when we make it ours, one, it gets harder to gripe, and two, we want to make it better.

 

So back to “We Are Laughlin,” and more specifically, what does it mean to me? It means we—total force Airmen, families, community partners—own it. This is “our” base, and we are in the perfect position to make it as great as we want to make it. Too often in my air force career I’ve listened to people gripe about their situation. And after 23-and-a-half years, I’ve yet to see even the best gripes result in any real improvements (though I have to admit that sometimes a good gripe session does feel good). But do you know what I have seen? Smart people identifying improvements, innovations, ideas, wants, needs or requests, and our Air Force coming through with the time, money and effort needed to make it happen. Does it always work? Of course not, but even one small victory goes a long way toward making our Air Force better.


Here’s my promise to you. I value your opinion. I want you to work with me to make “our” base the very best in the Air Force. We need to own it, strive where we can to make it better, as well as love it for what it is and the part we play in getting the mission done. Now that, in a nutshell, is what “We are Laughlin” means to me—all of us, living, working, playing and striving, to be excited about where we are, who we’re with, and what we’re doing, while challenging ourselves, every day, to make it better.

 

Have no doubt, I am Laughlin; however, together…We Are Laughlin, and there is no limit to what we can do!