Mission, Team Mildenhall, family all high priorities with new 100th ARW commander

  • Published
  • By Karen Abeyasekere
  • 100th Air Refeuling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Col. Christopher Kulas, 100th Air Refueling Wing commander, has been "in the pilot's seat" at RAF Mildenhall for almost two weeks now, and I got the chance chat with him about his background, his views on leadership, and the topics which are most important to him:

One team, one fight

Q: You just came from being the operations group commander (in Southwest Asia) with one of the largest deployed refueling missions there is. How did that prepare you to lead the largest air refueling mission in Europe?

A: It taught me several things. Firstly, it showed me the deployment rate of the Air Force's tanker force (active duty, guard and reserve); a lot of the challenges we face with ops tempo for the aircrew, maintainers, aircraft maintenance, supplies and training - they're all similar across the fleet. I saw a lot of that downrange, talking to the aircrew there, and you see the same issues here. The other thing about the ops group there is that it wasn't just the air refueling. We had five different flying missions and eight squadrons. I think that prepared me to be a wing commander because there were a whole lot of squadrons I didn't know much about.

(Those included) a space element, and a reconnaissance squadron; so I had to learn, and had to trust my squadron commanders. I've been in ops my whole life, and have a little bit of maintenance background, but I haven't actually led those type of squadrons or a mission support group. But, I think the leadership skills I learned from leading squadrons will carry over well for leading the wing.

Q: You don't come from a military family; when did you become interested in joining the Air Force?

A: I decided to join the Air Force when I was in high school. When I was a kid, I went to the library a lot and would read a lot of biographies of American figures in history, the American Civil War and the American West, as well as a lot of World War II books. I also read a lot of bios of American generals, and was intrigued by the military side of things.

As to why I chose the Air Force over the other services, my dad built plastic models, so as a kid I grew up building model airplanes and World War II aircraft, and I always loved the flying part. Everybody had a fascination with airplanes, and I wanted to do the flying thing.

I actually applied to both the Air Force Academy and the Naval Academy, but the Air Force was my first choice, and I got accepted to that. My first-ever flight in an airplane was when I went to the Air Force Academy.

Q: Even though you've only been here for a week, what is your favorite part of your job, and why?

A: Doing the positive things, such as presenting awards. I just went to the monthly promotion ceremony and recognized our Airmen and their families, by pinning on their next rank - it's doing the fun things where you get to celebrate with people and share in their joy.

So often as a commander, you get the bad news blowing across your desk; you have to read the blotter, and you hear a lot of negative things. But we have a lot of great Airmen out there working hard every day, and the vast majority of them are doing the best they can, and doing a fantastic job. So when you get to recognize them and share in their celebrations, you get a lot of energy from that.

Also, when you get to see what they do, it makes you proud of their dedication to the mission, as well as the innovations and efficiency they bring to the job.

Q: After being stationed here in the 1990's as a pilot in the 351st Air Refueling Squadron, how does it feel to come back as a colonel, in charge of the entire 100th ARW?

A: Coming back to RAF Mildenhall is a fantastic opportunity and it's not one I ever dreamed of when I was here in the 1990s. But it's also a very different experience; I'm happy to have the background of knowing the area, having been here before, but so much is different. Knowing the heritage of the Bloody Hundredth - and that's something we focused on when I was here as a captain - it's great that the legacy continues.

But there's a lot of things that are different, such as the base layout; so much has changed about the infrastructure of the base - there's a lot of improvements. The whole south side has lots of fantastic facilities that we didn't have back then and my whole perspective has changed dramatically as well. The things you focus on as a line pilot are totally different from what you focus on from the 100th ARW commander perspective. There's a whole lot more working with our British hosts and dealing with Ministry of Defence issues; there's a wealth of things that are different, but already knowing a little bit definitely helps and has accelerated my learning.

Mission first, safety always

Q: What are your 'hot topics' and priorities that you want to focus on while you're commander?

A: The mission, as Europe's only air refueling wing supporting Europe and Africa, and as well as warrior spirit because we prepare and deploy Airmen for taskings across the globe, predominantly in the Middle East AOR.

I will be focusing on Airmen and their families. The deployment rate stresses folks, and I want to make sure we're giving them the support and developmental opportunities they need to better themselves.

I also want to work with our mission partners on the installation (352nd Special Operations Group, 95th Reconnaissance Squadron, 488th Intelligence Squadron and 3rd Air Force) as well as our local community, and of course, keep our links with our heritage - the 100th Bomb Group and the former RAF Thorpe Abbots.

We can never lose sight of keeping our focus on safety. We do hazardous missions, but we can mitigate risk by keeping a safety focus, as well as ensuring our Airmen and their families are safe on British roads. Because of the challenges of driving on a different side of the road, and left-hand vs. right-hand drive vehicles; and the number of accidents we've had on these roads, we definitely need to continue to focus on safety.

Also, maintaining professionalism is always necessary while maintaining a high standard of performance as military members.

Q: What can your Airmen expect from you, and what do you expect from them in return?

A: They can expect an open ear, dedication, and the fact that I'm committed to their needs and the needs of their families. I see my job as a commander to provide them the resources, tools and the support they need to execute the mission.

In turn, I expect professionalism and the best that they have to offer, with maximum effort. I also expect them to care for each other and to treat each other with dignity and respect.

Q: How important is family to you, both your own and those of your Airmen and civilians?

A: After a year away, I feel I owe my family a lot. Being deployed for a year - and I know I'm not by any means the only person who has ever done that - has helped me and taught me a lot about what other Air Force families go through. I hope to take those lessons learned, especially after speaking with my wife and hearing the things that she's learned, and to care for our folks both deployed and here. I'm definitely interested in ensuring families have what they need so they can make the most of their tour.

Families are a part of the team. There's an old saying about the Air Force - it 'recruits individuals, but retains families.' It's incumbent on us to ensure that we do the best that we can for the families.

Q: What advice would you offer to Airmen on the best way to make the most of their career?

A: Do the best that you can in the job that you're in. Your performance today matters - it's an indicator of what your performance will be tomorrow. Take pride in what you do, because each job is important to the Air Force.

Be yourself, and don't change as you move up positions - do what brought you to where you're at. Remember that what we do is special - we're serving a cause that's higher than ourselves. We're making sacrifices for our country and our principles; that's a special calling, and not everyone gets to do it - we should be proud of what we do!

The man behind the mission

Q: What do your three sons think about military life, and are they showing any interest yet in wanting to join the military?

A: Over the last year, my youngest son has said he doesn't like the Air Force, as "it took Dad away." But they look forward to the moves. My parents still live in the same house they bought before I was born, so I'm always worried about making (my sons) move frequently, especially with the challenges that brings with making new friends and getting acquainted.

But moving is all they know, and they've adapted pretty well to it. I think it's made it easier for them to make friends and get involved quicker in the local community. With this job, coming over to Europe, they're at a good age where they will remember any travel we do, so they'll gain that education. Other times overseas, they were obviously younger - my youngest son, aged 8, doesn't remember being stationed in Turkey at all, so they didn't really get to share in the experience. With this job, they will get to share in it.

Right now, my oldest son, aged 13, wants to be a professional soccer player, and we're looking to see if we can get him on a local British team, so he can get the experience.

Q: You've said you're a Green Bay Packers fan, being from Wisconsin. How do you feel about them winning the Super Bowl last year, and even though the season hasn't started yet, what do you think of their chances this year?

A: I was talking with Col. (David) Doe, 100th Mission Support Group commander, the other day about celebrating our victories - and we've had a lot of victories on this base with winning lots of awards. I told him that one thing we have to watch out for is that we don't end up like the New Orleans Saints - they won the Super Bowl the year before, and there were lots of stories going around that they celebrated too long. Instead of celebrating and saying, "We won, celebrate, now let's move on and prepare for the next season and keep our focus," they started off slow in the season, losing a bunch of games early on - and lost in the first round of the playoffs!

I say to the Packers - and it's an analogy I want to use with the wing - celebrate your victories, then it's time to regain the focus on what your mission is. There will be new players and new people on the team, and people who want to win the Super Bowl who've never won it before.

The good thing about the Packers winning last year was that it kept me interested in football until February, which took up about eight months of my deployment! I [video-called] with my family and we both watched the games and were talking back and forth - and it's a good way to bond with the kids while being apart.

Fly, fight and win

Q: The mission is obviously important to you. How will you ensure the 100th ARW continues its mission to the best of its ability?

A: Airmen are the ones who get the mission done; we have to care about our Airmen, and by caring about them, that's how the mission gets accomplished. You're hired to do the mission, which for the Air Force is to fly, fight and win through air, space and cyberspace. That's why we have an Air Force, especially in places downrange - we are deployed to fly, fight and win. That was our purpose for being there, and if we avoid doing that we may as well go back home.

But it comes back to supporting the Airmen and giving them the tools and resources they need to do the mission. We can never lose focus on the mission, because that's what we're all about.

Q: Overall, how have you found your first week in command here?

A: So far I've been really impressed. I love the community atmosphere we have here. I've seen that we definitely have a high operations tempo, but I've also seen cooperation within the groups and our mission partners to ensure that we get the mission accomplished.

I hope to continue that spirit of working together. Team Mildenhall is definitely one team. The 352nd SOG, 95th RS, 488th IS, 3rd Air Force and the 100th ARW - we all serve together, serving our country and doing the best we can.