Commander's Corner: embrace change

  • Published
  • By Col. Stuart M. Rubio

“Progress is impossible without change; and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” George Bernard Shaw.

Air Force Reserve leadership has put a lot of faith in our wing as one of only three across the command to implement virtual Unit Training Assemblies into the fiscal year 2022 schedule. I’m excited to see the innovative ways we can increase our readiness while allowing you to spend more time doing what you joined the Air Force to do and also giving you time back to spend however you’d like. As with any beta test, this first iteration probably won’t be exactly what we end up with in future years. Since this is our first attempt at a UTA schedule like this, we will plan and execute it to the best of our abilities and then welcome your feedback (which is now even easier to give through the AF Connect app).

To quote Lt. Gen. Brian Kelly, Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower, Personnel and Services, “I am 100% sure we did not get this 100% correct.”

I understand that change may not be easy. Especially in the midst of other challenges we’re facing, such as compliance with Department of Defense mandated COVID vaccinations and a Unit Effectiveness Inspection from Nov. 4-9 … among many other things. And I understand that changing from “how we’ve always done it” can sometimes be scary.

Wharton Executive Master of Business Administration Professor Adam Grant said, “Questioning ourselves makes the world more unpredictable … reconsidering something we believe deeply can threaten our identities, making it feel as if we’re losing a part of ourselves.” But smart, thoughtful change is required in an ever-changing world. Our Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown has challenged us to “accelerate change or lose” in order to keep pace with our adversaries. So I ask you to welcome the opportunity to rethink our solutions to these challenges. It is this change for the better that is exactly what we need to remain the Wing of Choice.