The Role of Culture and Leadership in the United States Air Force
Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines culture as “the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization” and leadership as “the act or an instance of leading.” The United States Air Force, like any other large organization, relies on leadership at all levels to effectively operate its mission. Further, the United States Air Force since it’s inception in 1947 has had a continuously evolving set of cultures unique to the organization. Joining these two concepts together has directly lead to the United States Air Force being held as the “Best Air Force in the World.”
The United States Air Force began developing its own unique culture well before it was even established. The United States Army Air Corps, the forerunner of the United States Air Force, was established in 1926. This organization started many of the time honored traditions now associated with the United States Air Force (Beyland, 2011) . Many of the current units within the United States Air Force trace their units lineage back to units created under the United States Army Air Corps and still use organizational logos that identify them with those early units. This close association with early units and a keen interest in maintaining the stories of early military aviation pioneers (Beyland, 2011), show how the art of organization story telling (George & Jones, 2011) has shaped the culture of the United States Air Force as a whole.
Members of the United States Air Force speak what many outside of the organization can see as a foreign language. Sentences sprinkled liberally with initial-isms and military jargon can lead to message confusion to...
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The Army’s history includes many unique global events such as World War I and II, the Vietnam War, the Korean conflict and most recently operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom. An in depth study of these historical events is beyond the scope of this paper however, the origin of the Army is relevant in discussing the Army’s overall culture.
Commissioning in the Air Force has been a life-long aspiration. My grandfathers enlisted, but went on to retire as field-grade officers with careers spanning WW2, the Korean War and the Vietnam conflict. Their experiences inspired me to follow in their footsteps and serve my country. After starting college, I soon enlisted due to financial hardships but my desire to commission never waned. Over 10 years’ service, my goal of commissioning ultimately took a back seat to my missions, Airmen and responsibilities at hand. However, I have always sought out opportunities to advance my abilities through holding key positions and seeking out added responsibilities. By earning a commission, I will continue to grow professionally, improve our Airmen and further expand our service's capabilities.
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Leadership can come in many forms and from many perspectives. In the heat of combat, the leadership from a Navy Seal is much different than that of a leader in a high school dorm. Through reading Extreme Ownership I found how leadership completely changes depending on the perspective. Leadership in combat is completely dependent on quick, decisive execution, whereas leadership in the dorm is more dependent on taking time to work with everyone before arriving at a solution.
...Force Special Operations Command.” Air Force Special Operations Command. U.S. Air Force, 2012. Web. 9 Feb. 2012. .
... evident in the transformational style of Robin Olds, Curtis LeMay, and Billy Mitchell. These leaders had character flaws; however, it did not prevent them from being effective and transformational. The culture of the Air Force as a separate service is attributed to the pioneering spirit of Billy Mitchell. The culture of technology and strategic defense is a capstone for Curtis LeMay. The culture of the Air Force gaining and maintaining air superiority with Esprirt de Corp is the lasting tribute to Robin Olds.
Being in the military I have came across a number of different leadership/management styles and tried to adopt some of those that I thought were effective. The values that we hold in the military are expected to be at a higher standard then our civilian counterpart. This is something that I do not take for granted and try to live by our core values. The core values in the Air Force are what guide our organization and something that I have tried to represent my whole Air Force career. “In May 1995, then-Secretary of the Air Force Sheila Widnall, and then-Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Gen. Ronald Fogleman, established the Air Force Core Values: Integrity First, Service Before Self, and Excellence in All We Do.” If you as a manager can abide by these values while supervising your people, no matter how many that would be, then morally you can feel like you did your best as a manager.
The topic of leadership has been explored and written about by thousands of authors who are considerably more qualified than I am to write about the subject. However, I’ve always maintained that developing, evolving and articulating one’s own leadership philosophy is an essential part of a professional’s growth. Through academics and experience, I’ve concluded that leadership is a “soft” skill, more art than science, and that leadership principles can be universally applied. As a topic of discussion, leadership can be ambiguous and seldom does everyone agree on a single definition. Organizations and the people they consist of crave leadership, even if not overtly. Undeniably, strong leadership is essential to achieving
Contained within the following paper is the evaluation of the author’s organization’s mission, vision goals, and objectives .The author will discuss the pre-determined questions as set forth by Jeffrey Trapp, a certified University of Phoenix instructor. This paper will discuss the differences that a rise between a company that has implemented TQM (Total Quality Management) with that of the authors own organization’s management style.
The Role of Military Leaders in the Transition Assistance Program. n.d. 09 Decemeber 2013 .
To levy change with regards to accommodations and increased diversity, there is a need to increase the attractiveness of the Air Force. It must be understood that, if Airmen feel valued and excited, they will not want to go elsewhere. Airmen need to experience a legitimate buy-in. Moreover, their commitment and enthusiasm will be evident.7 To attract and retain quality Airmen of a diverse nature, there needs to be a higher retention rate. To increase retention, there needs to be flexibility, such as better control over assignment locations and duration, opportunities to control future development, and a more accepting environment for growth. The Air Force population is hungry for greater opportunities and satisfaction. If the Air Force can’t satisfy their needs, they will go to an organization that understands their desires. Being more accommodating to an Airman’s wants and needs will increase retention allowing for a greater number of candidates. Larger numbers to choose from will increase the potential for an underrepresented applicant group to be considered. Lastly, consider that a “group of people with diverse individual expertise would be better than a homogeneous group at solving complex, nonroutine problems.”8 There is a critical need to retain and broaden the diversity of the Air Force, not only to retain air superiority, but to guarantee that numerous views and thoughts are openly expressed at all levels of
In summary, my Air Force story highlights my journey to becoming an officer in the USAF. It takes into account my Puerto Rican heritage and values and advocates the benefits of maintaining a diverse workforce. My role as a Force Support officer has placed me in situations and enabled the experiences which have shaped my understanding of the profession of arms and better developed me as a leader. Lastly, my contributions to the Air Force mission, at home station or in the area of operations (AOR), have facilitated Airmen at all levels (Tactical, Operational, Strategic) within our Air Force and enabled them to make informed decisions affecting their careers and quality of life.
TQM is a system of continuous improvement of work processes to enhance the organization’s ability to deliver high-quality products or services in a cost-effective manner [2]. The focus of TQM is to improve customer satisfaction and reduce waste [3]. Customers include ...