New colonel’s advice: Be your true self, set positive example

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Heather Heiney
  • 403rd Wing Public Affairs

No one starts out as a colonel. Pinning on eagles takes a long journey in which the traveler both follows those ahead and holds his or her hand out to help those behind.

 

Col. Brian May, 403rd Operations Group commander, recently joined those ranks.

 

His Air Force journey began in 1991 when he stepped off the bus at Lackland Air Force Base for basic military training. He was an enlisted armament systems technician until 1993 when he attended the University of Oklahoma’s Reserve Officer Training Corps program. Upon his commission in 1994, he was part of the security forces career field until becoming a navigator in 1999.

 

“My defining moment was the day I enlisted,” May said. “I’m very thankful that I was enlisted because it makes me a better leader.”

 

May has held leadership roles throughout his active duty and Air Force Reserve career including being an instructor navigator, chief of safety, safety program manager, flight commander, chief of the commander’s action group, director of staff, chief of scheduling, deputy commander, director of operations and now group commander.

 

During his promotion ceremony, officiator retired Col. Howard Ward, Jr. said best practices are his legacy and asked, “Is there anything you can do just kind of meh?”

 

He then gave May’s wife, Kathy, two general officer stars and said one was to remind May who’s really in charge, and the other was to keep him reaching for higher goals.

 

“The purpose of this promotion, like every promotion, is to accomplish missions and take care of Airmen and their families,” Ward said. “When you really understand what service before self means, good things will happen for you.”

 

Something May said he does every day for motivation is look at a yellow sticky note that reads, “Don’t forget, leadership is not about your title, it’s about your behavior.”

 

Part of that behavior is seeing something that needs to be done and just doing it, including taking out the trash and sweeping the floors.

 

“Nothing should be beneath anyone,” he said. “If your people see you doing it, it makes them feel like part of the team.”

 

He also said he firmly believes that leaders have to trust the people they work with and empower them to make decisions and do their work. When he took over as 403rd OG commander he specifically told the squadron commanders he was not in charge of their squadrons, he was in charge of them.  

 

“My actions mirror what I said then. I don’t have time to be in people’s chili. I have my own chili that I’m trying not to burn,” May said. “And I like chili.”

 

Once, before his promotion ceremony, he pointed to his lieutenant colonel rank and said, “When this changes, that’s the only thing that changes. I’m still going to be the same person. I’ll still run a vacuum and take the trash out. You can’t change the work ethic of a person.”

 

May also said a key to success is having someone who believes in you and that his wife, Kathy, is his best friend and biggest supporter.

 

“I was an A1C when we met. She tacked on my senior airman stripes, and she has put on every rank since,” he said.

 

May’s father-in-law, he said, also played a big role in his success by pushing him further than he thought he could push himself.

 

“He taught me so much,” he said, “Just to be me. Not only at work and as a commander but as a husband and father and friend. I’m always the same person, I don’t act one way around one person and a different way around another.”

 

He said that philosophy has made his life more enjoyable and easy because he can just be who he is and focus on his priority of taking care of his people.

 

“I’m in a unique position as a group commander,” he said. “I like to push people to a boundary they didn’t think of. There are gems out there who haven’t been polished yet and my job is to find them.”

 

He also said that whether someone wants to be the next command chief or colonel, it has to start inside and a lot of people don’t know the potential they have until someone tells them.

 

“Things can go as far as you want them to, just don’t be afraid to ask. That’s when neat stuff happens,” he said.