Photo By Lt. Col. Devin Robinson | Lt. Gen. L. Scott Rice, Director of the Air National Guard, is greeted by Maj. Gen....... read more read more
SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine - Lt. Gen. L. Scott Rice, Director of the Air National Guard (DANG) visited South Portland Air National Guard Station (SPANGS) in South Portland, Maine, December 12, 2018, and spent time with the Airmen of the 265th Combat Communications Squadron (CBCS) and the 243rd Engineering Installation Squadron (EIS).
Rice joined our Airmen for a brown bag lunch while squadron leadership shared a series of mission briefings.
“It’s great having the Director of the Air National Guard stop by here on station, and we’re really appreciative of him and his time,” said Maj. Brenden Westin, 265th CBCS Detachment Commander. “He requested feedback on what were our top concerns, and what we see as our opportunities. We are really thankful for the opportunity to provide that feedback to him.”
The lunch proved an invaluable opportunity for Airmen to ask questions, share experiences, and learn from Rice’s vision for how the Air National Guard works at its highest levels.
“I think it’s important that the young Airmen are aware that our leaders are listening,” said Senior Master Sgt. Lewis McAlister, 243rd EIS Project Manager. “By the Director coming here he’s really showing the state that he wants to know, he wants to hear about the things that are important to them.”
Rice repeatedly stressed his excitement for the visit, mentioning that he and his wife Nancy have visited more than 70 Air National Guard wings during his tenure as director, but that visiting associated units like the 265th and the 243rd is a more rare opportunity for him. While the visit may have been rare for Rice, it was an even more unique opportunity for the many young Airmen who joined Rice for lunch.
“This was an amazing opportunity. It’s not every day that you get the Director of the Air National Guard to come into your unit and learn about what you do on the day-to-day and then turn right around and ask you ‘what do you need so that you can do that better and to do that more effectively?’” said Tech. Sgt. Matthew Bowen, 243rd EIS Cyber Transport Systems NCOIC. “This is an opportunity that doesn’t come around very often in an individual’s career, and one that I will definitely remember throughout the rest of my career.”
After the luncheon, Rice addressed the squadrons in an All-Call briefing where he spoke about personal responsibility, Wingman Culture, and encouraged the Airmen to look after themselves and take care of each other.
“I challenge you with this: take care of yourselves, take care of each other. I think that you can take care of the person next to you sometimes better than you take care of yourselves,” Rice said. “Especially as we go through all the cycles of things we go to whether it be deployments, whether it be holiday season, or whatnot. Really. Your best advocate is the one sitting next to you.”
During his talk Rice covered a variety of topics and took numerous questions from the Airmen on topics ranging from manpower and training requirements to recruiting, retention, and skills recognition. But in the end, he stressed the pride that he feels every time someone mentions those Air National Guard squadrons “up in Portland.”
“The bottom line is, from my wife and myself, and over 100,000 Airmen in our organization, I thank you for all you do,” Rice said. “Because this organization, in this Portland, on this side of the country are doing great things for our nation. Keep it up. Well done!”
After a whirlwind tour of SPANGS, Rice and his team jumped on Interstate 295 and headed north to the new headquarters of the Maine National Guard – Camp Chamberlain. Brand new this year, Camp Chamberlain is a 100,000 square foot, state of the art facility set on 43 acres in the state’s capital of Augusta. Camp Chamberlain officially opened June 3, 2018, and this was Rice’s first visit to the installation.
The DANG will continue his tour of the Maine Air National Guard with a visit to the 101st Air Refueling Wing in Bangor, Maine, on December 12-13, 2018.
| Date Taken: | 12.12.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 12.12.2018 23:01 |
| Story ID: | 303303 |
| Location: | SOUTH PORTLAND, MAINE, US |
| Web Views: | 169 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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