COMMENTARY: Culture is our foundation

  • Published
  • By Chief Master Sgt. Paul Wallace
  • 100th Operations Group chief enlisted manager
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  I believe culture is one of the most important things we, as Airmen, can focus on. It's part of the 100th Air Refueling Wing's priorities -- mission, people, partners and culture. It can be considered foundational to the other three priorities.

The dictionary defines culture as a way of thinking, behaving or working that exists in an organization. An organization's culture is defined by how its people think, act, and how they interact with each other. It can be simply stated as "the way we do things around here."

In order to cultivate our Bloody Hundredth culture, it's important for us to focus on our heritage. The Airmen of the 100th Bombardment Group accomplished amazing things and suffered many losses, but they persevered.

They persevered because of the people. Whether we are talking about the crews who had the courage to climb in their aircraft, again and again; defend the aircraft from the flack and the fighters; and put bombs on target, or we are talking about the efforts of hundreds of Airmen on the ground, making the aircraft ready, sometimes having to work around the clock to make the aircraft airworthy again. It took all kinds of people, doing their part to make this amazing part of our heritage the reality it is for us today.

The 100th BG Airmen also built partnerships within the local communities. As a testament to the strength of these partnerships, there are many museums around the local area. These Airmen didn't build these museums; instead, they were built by the people whose lives were impacted by the Airmen of the Bloody Hundredth, as a tribute to them. Some of these museums are maintained by a second and third generation of caretakers, people who weren't even born or at least not old enough to have known those Airmen first hand. These people do what they do, not because of having known our Airmen but because of the gratitude exuded by those who did.

Learning and knowing about our heritage plays a pivotal part in understanding our culture. The Airmen of our past exhibited the 'Square D Way,' meaning they had to be innovative, cooperative and effective to accomplish all that they did. I believe their efforts in our history reflect this. 

Today, the 100th ARW has a different kind of mission and our Airmen make it happen. They know mission accomplishment is our primary goal. To meet this goal, we have to take care of our Airmen and their families.

Just like the Airmen in our past, today's Airmen know we must continue to build partnerships. Whether it is right here on the base, working with our mission partners in the 352nd Special Operations Group, Team Reconnaissance or the 727th Air Mobility Squadron, or in our local communities, working hand in hand with our allies, the partnerships we build today can be like the ones of the of our past, strong and enduring.

Aristotle said, "Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives - choice, not chance, determines your destiny."

In effectively cultivating our Bloody Hundredth culture, we ensure the 'Square D' Airmen of the future know the 'Square D Way' is no accident. It takes everyone, thinking, acting and working together to truly make the 'Square D' the most innovative, cooperative, and efficient effective wing and moving toward our wing vision of being the "Best Wing in the U.S. Air Force."