News

The road was long, but the journey's almost over

  • Published
  • By Col. Michael S. Stough
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Commander
Our road to the Unit Compliance Inspection began more than 10 months ago, when you conducted your semiannual self-inspections in December. At the time, October seemed a long way off, yet here we are, only three days from the inspection's start. 

For some of you, October seemed like it would never get here, as you tackled program after program in order to make it as strong as it possibly could be. 

For others, October seemed to be racing toward us like a runaway freight train -- there just didn't seem to be enough time to pull everything together. No matter how you felt in the preceding months and weeks, your hard work is about to come to an end (at least as far as the inspection is concerned). 

Beginning Tuesday, inspectors will scatter across the wing to evaluate your programs. Their job is to ascertain how well our programs are managed and how closely they comply with the many directives that govern our operations. 

They'll be looking for strengths and best practices as well as for areas needing improvement. At the end, they'll provide an overall assessment of our wing's compliance picture, and you'll see how well your efforts have borne fruit.
However, I'm not going to wait until the outbrief to say thank you. I really do appreciate the hard work, long hours and weekends so many of you devoted to our preparation efforts. 

It's never easy balancing the daily demands of your job against the "housekeeping" requirements that make sure your program is sound and properly managed, and many of you had to maintain that balancing act despite manning shortages and Air Expeditionary Force deployments. 

Despite the challenges, you've made significant progress in all our programs over the past ten months, and you can show the inspectors your work with pride. 

That brings me to some important inspection ground rules. A UCI isn't a contest of wills. Your task is to make the inspector's job easy. You'll probably know in advance when the inspector plans to show up, and you should make sure someone is assigned to meet and escort him or her. 

Try to have all requested materials immediately available. And don't be afraid to brag about programs of which you're particularly proud, but also remember that none of this is personal. 

After all your hard work, you probably feel like your programs are a part of you, but any discrepancies found by the inspectors aren't personal attacks on you; they're just discrepancies. 

Accept them, fix them where possible and move on. 

To the inspectors, I'd like to say thank you for showing up, and I say that not only because my folks are ready to get through this.
As I've said so many times (some would say too many times), the value of an inspection lies not in the inspection itself but in the preparation leading up to that inspection. We've seen that value over the past 10 months and have made significant improvements in our wing. 

No one enjoys being under the microscope, but inspections do provide a focus and a demand to pay attention to often neglected areas.
We've paid attention, and we're glad you're here. 

And we're ready to get to work.