Armchair Quarterbacks

  • Published
  • By Colonel Angela Cadwell
  • 47th Mission Support Group
LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Over 111 million viewers tuned in to watch Super Bowl XLV earlier this year. Sharing the event with friends and families while shouting advice, compliments, insults, and commentary at the screen is an American tradition also known as armchair quarterbacking. An armchair quarterback is "a person who offers advice or an opinion on something in which they have no expertise or involvement." Are you an armchair quarterback?

How many times while you have been at Laughlin have you thought or said "they should fix this" or "why hasn't someone done something about that"? I would say that maybe the reason is because you didn't get involved. You didn't volunteer to help make the base a better place. You stood on the sidelines in your armchair and booed and hissed while others toiled to carry the proverbial football up the field.

If you were one of the ones that led a project, helped others, who sees something that needs fixing and actively seeks the resources needed to make it better, then thank you. You have made Laughlin a better place today than it was yesterday. You helped move the football up the field.

People are making a difference. This past year, volunteer hours equated to more than $83,000 of savings. But actions speak louder than words, so let's review what we have accomplished this past year. As you read through the list, imagine what more we could do if even more people got up out of the armchair and into the game.

Here are some ways we moved the ball forward this past year.

- More than $13 million worth of projects in design or under construction including the Student Activities Center, 2nd Street drainage system and the Aerospace Physiology renovation. Additionally, the base's top military construction priorities projects are new enlisted dorms, airfield drainage, student officer dorms and a small arms range.

- Quality of Life projects:
     - Secured basic allowance for subsistence type II, an additional $350 per member a month, for enlisted dorm residents due to lack of cooking and dining options.
     - Completed $40,000 facility upgrade to house all Airmen and Family Readiness Center functions in a central location.
     - Initiated $750,000 in fitness projects: new softball and football fields, resurfacing indoor basketball and racquetball courts, indoor and outdoor running tracks and four tennis courts. 
     - Dramatically improved the Laughlin Manor, including a $1.2 million décor upgrade and the installation of a new cable system. 
     - Repaired marina wet slips and cabins damaged by tornado.
     - Completed a $132,000 outdoor pool repair-project. 
     - Opened new paintball area, Splattville, for families. 
     - Built a new theater room and game room worth $50,000 in the enlisted dorms with a 120-inch screen with high definition, Blu-Ray player, and PS-3 and X-Box interconnected game systems.
     - Replaced all refrigerators, oven ranges and dishwashers in government-owned duplexes.
     - Upgrading Youth Gym to meet new fire codes.
     - Implemented more than 375 morale welfare and recreation events providing entertainment, fitness and educational children activity programs.

- Force Protection projects:
     - Video surveillance cameras in key areas.
     - Completed $122,000 projects for military working dog area drainage and canopy protection to protect our bomb and drug dogs and their handlers.
     - Successfully implemented a $120,000 Defense Biometric Identification System providing enhanced security to the base.
     - Purchased new closed-circuit TV system for our Child Development Center to provide better security and supervision of our most precious assets.
     - Corrected problem that enabled quicker 911 responses 

- Infrastructure Upgrades
     - $400,000 upgrades to restroom and shower facilities in Building 320.
     - Invested $60,000 in new e-mail and shared drive equipment.
     - Currently executing $5.5 million storm drainage repair impacting 14 flightline buildings to remove flooding in high traffic area.
     - Installed five state-of-the-art consoles in the new Aircraft Maintenance Operations Complex. 
     - Secured $900,000 for renovations to the Aerospace Physiology Facility.
     - Completed $15,000 Personal Digital Assistant upgrade providing wing leadership with mobile messaging and voice.
     - Executing a project to upgrade Hangar 2 Fire Suppression system. Last remaining base facility without full fire protection.

Team XL has indeed made Laughlin better today than it was yesterday. If you see something that needs fixing or could be better, volunteer to take the lead on it! We already have plenty of arm-chair quarterbacks who like to boo and hiss from the sidelines. Get up and get in the game.