Photo By Master Sgt. Jacob Lewis | Col. Douglas C. Jeffrey, IV, 433rd Airlift Wing commander, speaks during one of the...... read more read more
More than 2,000 Reserve Citizen Airmen attended a series of wing-wide stand-up meetings led by Col. Douglas C. Jeffrey IV, 433rd Airlift Wing commander at the Bob Hope theatre here Nov. 2-3, 2024. The wing stand-ups focused on risk management and operational discipline as the Air Force and total force reoptimizes for Great Power Competition.
“Why are you here?,” Jeffrey asked the thousands of Airmen at the theatre over three sessions. “Is it just because you wanted to serve the country? That might not be why you actually joined and that is okay.” He challenged the audience to reflect on why they joined the miliary. “So… why do you serve? Think about that. Today is about getting back to the basics to make sure you are in standards. To make sure we are doing the things we need to do to serve our country.”
After the introduction, Jeffrey played a video from Gen. David W. Allvin, Air Force chief of staff (CSAF).
“For us, my fellow Airmen, our time of consequence is now,” said Allvin. “We are in an era of Great Power Competition. The force is evolving how we develop airmen, generate readiness, project combat power, develop our capabilities to deter and,, if necessary, defeat our adversary. As part of this evolution, we must develop our Airmen to weave risk management into the core of everyday operations and empower teams to tackle challenges they are certain to face in contested environments.”
The CSAF emphasized the importance of occupational safety, avoiding preventable mishaps, and reiterated that every military member will matter.
“We cannot be sloppy in practice and expect to win the game,” he warned. “And make no mistake, America expects us to win the game. That’s what’s at stake. To align mission readiness across the force… This is the beginning of an ongoing effort to prepare our service for the demands of Great Power Competition… Aim high.”
After the video, Tech. Sgt. Brittany Tesney, 433rd Airlift Wing Intelligence non-commissioned officer in charge, delivered an unclassified intelligence briefing.
“This last bullet here, talks about GPC—Great Power Competition,” Tesney said as she motioned to her slide. “You are going to hear that buzzword a lot. The PRC (People’s Republic of China) is no longer a near-peer threat—they are a peer threat… they want to surpass the U.S. by 2040.”
Tesney showed slides illustrating the influence of China and Russia throughout the decades. She also showcased how U.S. adversaries have been spreading their influence all over the world. She then showed a breakdown of adversarial military assets and compared them to U.S. military assets. Tesney explained how China conducted a nuclear weapons test northeast of Australia in the South Pacific Ocean. She also highlighted aggressive movements in the South China Sea where PRC military assets targeted the Spratly Islands near the Philippines. The intel NCOIC explained the U.S. is treaty bound to protect Australia and the Philippines, similar to U.S. defense commitments as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organizations. Hostile actions, such as the PRC’s nuclear weapons test, could trigger a conflict should U.S. allies in the Asia-Pacific region choose to invoke the mutual defense commitments laid out in the respective treaties.
Following the brief, Chief Master Sgt. Jonathan J. Birk, 433rd AW command chief, introduced himself to the wing and shared his Air Force story, including why he joined. Birk assumed the wing’s highest enlisted position in October. He foot stomped taking pride in serving and remembering the families who support every Airmen. He used his experience as an operations intelligence analyst to delve into more detail about the intelligence brief.
“China’s been fighting for those Spratly islands for a while,” said Birk. “This ship right here,” he pointed to an image of the Sierra Madre ship on one of the Spratly Islands, “This ship almost took us to war in August. I don’t know how many of you knew that. The Chinese Coast Guard has been fighting for them… and the Philippine government was very close to declaring Article 5 of their defense treaty that we have with them.”
Birk emphasized to be ready now, and that a potential conflict could happen at any moment.
After the command chief’s presentation, Senior Master Sgt. Ernesto Compean, 433rd Maintenance Group Operations senior enlisted leader, and Senior Airman Erica Ortiz, 433rd MXG production controller, took the stage and discussed operational risk management.
“The Department of the Air Force features complex and dynamic results in a change for our Air Force,” said Compean. “From agile combat, to our command structure, to how we deploy, the changes call for better operational risk management. Risk management is applicable to all operations and can be applied to security, logistics, finances, and other aspects of our mission. Risk management is a systematic approach to evaluate possible courses of action, identify risks and benefits and ultimately to determine the best course of action based on the situation.”
After the operational risk management presentation, the stand up concluded with remarks from the wing commander and a session for questions and answers. Members in the audience asked more than 100 questions via in person and using a QRC to live stream questions. The following day the Airmen returned to their various sections and segmented into smaller discussion groups for more a in depth analysis and review of the Department of the Air Force Form 4437 Deliberate Risk Assessment Worksheet. According to DAFI 90-802, The Risk Management Program specifies decisions about risk management must be made at the appropriate level.
“Mission readiness is the cornerstone of this campaign,” said Allvin. “Mission command necessitates risk management at the tactical edge. Well-executed, risk-informed decision-making preserves and protects combat power without sacrificing mission success.”
| Date Taken: | 11.02.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 11.13.2024 10:13 |
| Story ID: | 485156 |
| Location: | SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 25 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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