19 June - entry 1

planning and prepping a change, both macro and micro examples. For this entry I've two examples that I'm currently dealing with that revolve around a lack of planning on the part of superiors.

For the Macro level, there's the situation with our special mission flight. 4/5's of our squadron is dedicated to base support, and 1/5 is dedicated to our deployable support/special mission flight. While this special mission flight is designed to be deployable comm support, it also serves to keep our base support airmen proficient on deployable comm equipment as well as supporting other elements of the wing during exercises. Roughly 3 months ago, senior leadership announced that the special mission flight would leave our base and be relocated. Senior leadership has not yet released a timeline for this move. I can understand the logic that you want to show all our cards to give your airmen most time to prepare for the eventual move, but really all this has just proved to be a high morale crusher. First off, you have an entire 5th of the squadron that you can't use in any long term projects or plan on using in the future because you can't depend on it being there. Second, you have a 5th of the squadron who know's they're going to have to go through all the stresses of moving, but have no idea when or where, so they can't make any long term plans that they can depend on.

Now its just foolish to think that decisions of this nature exist in a vacuum. Subject matter experts were most definitely called upon for their expertise, and they most certainly talked to their peers, who then continued the rumor mill process. But rumors are just that, rumors, they are by no means fact. However, whenever your boss says this will go away, you need a more substantial timeframe than, "sometime in the near future", and for the past 3 months, that's all we've gotten.

For the Micro level, there's my current position. For most Lt's in my unit, its common to move positions once every 8-12 months. Basically this base serves as an introduction into the career field, you have a chance to move around the entire squadron, experience all aspects of base communications, and develop a well rounded communication's officer from the whole thing. I was given a task of uniting several disjointed squadron support functions into a single office, which i did successfully. However, I ended up pigeon holing myself in the process by making myself too critical to the smooth operations of the unit in my current role. So, I figured that my current position would last longer than the normal 8-12 month rotation, however the commander made the point clear that she was going to move the officer's at their 8-12 month point, in order to give them the breadth of experience they need to get. She even went as far as to tell me face to face on several occasions that I need to move positions. This was distressing to me, because i was in a shop with a high turnover rate and as a result, i was the sole source of continuty in that shop, and i certainly didn't have my people prepared to take over for me. So here i am, on the basis of my time in my position and the commander pointing to me and telling me its time to move me, trying frantically to get my people spun up to the point where they could take over for me.

Ultimately there was a large meeting, in which all the officer's were given their new assignments, except for me. I was the only one who wasn't moved. The explaination was that I was too key in my current position, and that a recommendation would be made to the new commander to move me into another position when she takes command in august/september. Not that I don't love feeling needed, but now I'm almost feeling jaded by the whole situation. I'm told that I need to move for my career, and then I'm not moved because its too convienent to keep me where I am. So I spend a month an a half worrying, working 14-16 hour days trying to build up as much continuity as i possibly could, and its all for not. A suggestion will be made, however it will merely be a suggestion, there is no authority behind it, and who's to say it won't be more convienent for the next commander to just keep me where i am then as well?

So, the morale of these examples is, don't announce plans for a change unless 1) you have your facts straight and your road planned out and 2) you actually will go through with the change. Tomorrow brings with it a team building activity, I'm not a golfer, but I'll still give it a try.