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JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. – In the complex and ever-evolving environment of the Department of Defense, continuity is the foundation which enables military operations to run efficiently and effectively.
While much of the focus is often on the uniformed service members, federal civilian employees play a crucial role within their units by maintaining that much needed constancy. Their contributions bridge the gap between military rotations and long-term strategic goals, ensuring their respective service remains operational and prepared for their missions.
The 1st Combat Camera Squadron’s Training Flight director, retired U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Tim Bailey, has been one of the unit’s keys to continuity for nearly 20 years at Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina.
“I love Combat Camera,” expressed Bailey. “It’s really like a family, once you’ve been assigned to Combat Camera it’s in your blood. I fell in love with the mission. I wanted to keep coming back to contribute everything I could to it.”
Bailey first joined the Combat Camera family in 1993 as Airman 1st Class Bailey.
“At that time, I was working at the 1st Combat Camera Squadron’s Detachment 8 out of Hurlburt Field in Florida,” recalled Bailey. “After two years there, the detachment was deactivated and I was relocated to Charleston.”
Since then, Bailey was assigned to the 1 CTCS two more times throughout his military career, ranging from the rank of Senior Airman to Senior Master Sgt. After his active duty retirement, Bailey was hired into the 1 CTCS as a civilian employee in 2018.
“I’ve learned a lot of lessons throughout my Combat Camera career,” said Bailey. “Some of those lessons have come from making mistakes. I try to make sure that we don’t make the same mistakes we’ve made in the past because I want the squadron to keep progressing and stay on the right track.”
Deployments, temporary duties, permanent change of station moves and retirements are the most common risks for loss of continuity at the 1 CTCS.
“It’s a revolving door here— people are always coming and going,” said Bailey. “Because of that, I noticed a lot of the standards I had known from my time in uniform were lost when I stepped into my civilian position.”
The lack of standardized imagery processes and organized training led him to reevaluate the squadron’s policies and realign them with the mission’s evolving need for directed imagery capabilities, Bailey explained.
Throughout his tenure, Bailey’s years of experience and keen expertise allowed him to enhance the squadron’s overall training operations and solidify imagery requirements, ultimately solving a major 1 CTCS continuity issue.
“I made it a goal to establish standards for our imagery,” said Bailey. “Those standards start with training and understanding why we document.”
Bailey oversaw the development of the squadron’s initial block training, which became a mandatory course for new 1 CTCS members to align them with established conventionalities. He also became an advisor for all 1 CTCS exercises, keeping a centralized focus on readiness to prepare Airmen for deployment rotations and global contingency operations.
“I’m able to bring all of my experiences, good and bad, to the table to better us as a squadron,” said Bailey.
Additionally, he established the 1 CTCS archival process, preserving all imagery, training objectives and historical documents which enable combat camera professionals to build on past successes and avoid repeating mistakes.
Bailey’s Combat Camera journey, from his uniformed days to now, showcases his deep institutional knowledge and passion for the integrity, progression and overall continuity of the 1 CTCS culture and its Airmen.
“Watching the Airmen go out the door, complete their missions and come back with amazing products makes me proud,” said Bailey. “To know that as a civilian, I’m still able to contribute to the Combat Camera mission is extremely rewarding for me.”
By bridging the gap between short-term military assignments and long-term operational needs, the continuity established by civilians across the DoD, like Bailey, ensure their organizations remain resilient, adaptable and capable of carrying out their missions.
| Date Taken: | 12.20.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.26.2024 09:14 |
| Story ID: | 488307 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 38 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Key to continuity: Tim Bailey, by SSgt Bailee Darbasie, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
