Laughlin Commentary -- The Actual Meaning of a Good Wingman

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Gregory Keeton
  • 434th Flying Training Squadron commander
LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Formation flying utilizes a team of pilots to achieve a mission that a single airplane cannot accomplish. This team is composed of the flight lead and the wingman. The wingman in this formation should epitomize the concept of followership. I hesitate to use the term "wingman" as I believe it is both overused and has inappropriately become synonymous with "babysitter." In reality, the wingman in a formation is absolutely essential to the success of the mission. Very rarely is the flight lead solely responsible for outstanding achievement. So for the sake of this article, the wingman will demonstrate the true concepts of followership as it should apply to our Air Force careers.

First, the wingman is not #1 in the formation. Normally a more experienced pilot who has been qualified as ready to lead has been placed in this position and his job is to take his formation and perform a specific function. As such, following #1 is the wingman's job. Included in this job description are not hitting #1 with his aircraft and not hitting the ground with his aircraft. While this may sound condescending, we as followers may need to be reminded of our primary tasks. Similarly, our role as follower in the Air Force allows us to follow our leader, supervisor or boss to achieve our goals. Our job however is not to just sit there and meekly sit in our corner surfing the internet hoping to stay out of the fray. We must continue to perform our job while doing more than just avoiding #1 and the ground. In order to act effectively as a team, we must recognize that #1 is in fact leading this formation and we must do everything that we can to perform our mission and make the team a successful entity.

The wingman must be able to provide information that is relevant and essential to the flight lead. Whether that information is good news or bad news, the ability of the wingman to effectively communicate with #1 at the right time is essential to their achievement of the objective. As followers that may mean that we don't say anything right now. We may take our task and act upon it even if we don't necessarily agree with it. It may also mean that we need to speak up quickly if the information is truly necessary to the leader. We must also recognize that incorrect information can be incredibly harmful. When trying to build situational awareness, if incorrect information is given to the lead, the success of the mission can rapidly deteriorate. While there is often limited time in certain situations, the transfer of information in a clear, correct and concise manner is vital to the success of any organization. I know of very few successful leaders that thrive on surrounding themselves with "yes" men. It is often the viewpoints and ideas of the followers that allow the organization to be truly great. Unfortunately, the misinformation of a follower may also force an error that is not recoverable.

Lastly, the wingman or follower must be competent and capable of performing leadership tasks when called upon to do so. Competence comes from study, practice and preparation. As followers, we must know our job, we must plan ahead, and we must perform at our highest level at every opportunity. With that level of performance comes the trust of lead to perform additional tasks that require the attention of a follower. As an example, wingmen may find themselves in a situation where they must split from #1 in order to achieve part of their mission. With the wingman's request to split comes a decision from their flight lead. Are we as followers trusted to perform without direct supervision? Have we shown the competence with our job to achieve greatness without someone constantly looking over our shoulder? The request from the wingman is answered with one of three responses. The first response, "negative," should not cause us to cower. Perhaps our leader knows that we should not go off on our own because that route will not help us in overall achievement of our goal. Maybe #1 just doesn't trust us on our own on this task yet. In any event, we must continue to show that we are willing to perform above and beyond our normal job description.

The next response, "cleared," means that flight lead has determined that we can go off on our own to accomplish this portion of the mission. Number 1 has evaluated the task and has determined that we as followers can perform this role without direct supervision. Obviously the trust associated with this decision places the flight lead at risk. We must realize as followers that with that trust comes a responsibility to keep our leaders informed of the results of this deviation from the formation concept. The third response, "press," has with it an additional level of responsibility. In this scenario, flight lead has allowed you to essentially lead the formation to the next objective. Lead will continue with you in formation and support you in the formation. In this role, the follower has the ability to lead while still having #1 in a position to assist. As wingmen, we often desire to be placed in the lead only to find that the responsibilities that coincide with leadership are incredibly high. As followers we must continue to build our leadership qualities while still fulfilling our role as the follower.

Superior performance as a follower is not a graded event with only those who fall in line receiving a good grade. Exceptional followership requires an ability to toe the line when necessary and suggest different approaches when available. When formation pilots work together well as a team, the ability to achieve success goes up dramatically. Just as in flying, being able to perform your role as a follower allows the Laughlin and Air Force team to achieve greatness.