100th ARW commander shares new mission, priorities, vision to be Ready, Balanced, Better...

  • Published
  • By Karen Abeyasekere
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Col. Thomas D. Torkelson, 100th Air Refueling Wing commander, shared RAF Mildenhall's new mission, priorities and vision for the future during commander's calls held Nov. 24, 2015.

Together with the wing's command chief, Chief Master Sgt. Tony Cruz-Munoz, and talking to a packed house at each of the three sessions, Torkelson shared how RAF Mildenhall's leadership team had spent a large amount of time discussing these goals and agreeing on a way forward for the next year.

"We've made some changes, and I hope you can rally behind us and get excited about some of the things we're going to do," the 100th ARW commander said. "Today's the day!"

He began by highlighting the old mission of Team Mildenhall, adding that in some ways it still applies - to provide global air refueling, to provide combat support, and to provide expeditionary Airmen.

"But for an organization to thrive and adapt to its environment, it needs to change - if it doesn't, it dies," Torkelson explained. "As we look at what the 'Hundredth' has been asked to do recently, it's all about speed, it's all about getting out the door as quickly as we can, and reacting in a way that provides flexibility for how we project airpower."

The commander went on to share the 100th ARW's new mission statement:

- Deliver agile and responsive global air refueling, and forward-based power projection

"We've been tasked to get out the door with little notice, so we needed something that speaks to that need," he said. "We chose 'responsive' and 'agile,' which is not only speed, but also the ability to operate in a diverse series of environments or airfields. It also means working outside your job - the days of 'that's not my job' no longer apply.

"As for 'forward-based power projection,' that's the mission support − the runway, the airfield and all the infrastructure involved in the projection of airpower. I believe we're forward-based here at Mildenhall, so we're talking about home-station stuff, but we also need to project from home-station to downrange.

"It's a great mission, and I think it reflects not only where we are today, but also where we expect to operate in the future," Torkelson said.

To help the 100th ARW achieve this mission, and to capitalize upon the deep legacy of the Bloody Hundredth and it's Square-D-emblazoned B-17s of World War II, the commander charged the wing with a new vision:

- "Ready, Balanced, Better ... Square-D Away!"

As with the larger Air Force Vision that contains 'mission,' 'Airmen,' and 'Innovation' elements, the wing's new vision follows suit by challenging all Airmen to be ready now, to live a balanced life, and to strive to get better -- professionally and personally -- each and every day.

"To help us with our mission, and to live up to our vision, the Air Force has already done a good job giving us some priorities," Torkelson said. "Most of you in this room have already been a part of this year's highly successful Unit Effectiveness Inspection, where we got U.S.  Air Forces in Europe's first 'Highly Effective' under the new commander's inspection program. Under that new system, we've been asked to hold ourselves accountable to four major graded areas."

Those four graded areas (executing the mission, leading people, managing resources and improving the unit) line up well with the 100th ARW's existing priorities that will continue:

- Mission, People, Partners and Culture

But the commander also shared that RAF Mildenhall will now execute a fifth priority:

- Innovation

"In a perfect world, innovation should be a cross-cutting enabler of the other four priorities. It shouldn't necessarily be a priority, but act behind the scenes," he said. "But we don't really have it as part of our culture yet, in my mind. It's an emphasis-item from the highest parts of our Air Force; Gen. Welsh thought so much of it, he made it part of the Air Force vision almost four years ago: 'The World's Greatest Air Force: Powered by Airmen, Fueled by Innovation.' I think innovation is here to stay; it's something that we need so we're going to make it a priority until it becomes something we think about daily as we look around our work sections for ways to save money, manpower, or minutes."

Discussing some of the wing's recent missions around the world and its work alongside other nations' air forces, the 100th ARW commander and command chief explained how being agile and responsive is how Team Mildenhall does business today and will do business tomorrow.

They shared how all of Team Mildenhall brings something to the fight and contributes to the mission in a variety of ways.

"But we can't do any of that without all of you," Torkelson said. "The mission is big, it's unrelenting, it's not going to stop − but you are the ones who make it work. Thank you for being squared away!"