Achieving mission excellence.

Secretary of the Air Force James G. Roche 

Remarks to the Air Force Cadet Officer Mentor Action Program Awards Banquet, Bolling Air Force Base, D.C., March 20, 2004

Thank you Mark (Lieutenant Colonel Mark Brown) for your kind words.

General Lyles, General and Mrs. James, General and Mrs. Taylor, Air Force General officers, distinguished guests, award winners, ladies and gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to break bread with you tonight, and to share with you my thoughts on a topic that is near and dear to my heart--developing and mentoring the professional airmen who make our service what it is today, the finest air and space force in the world. This distinguished gathering of servants to our nation and our Air Force is symbolic of all that is good about this great land of opportunity.

This organization was born from the efforts of enlightened leaders who saw the need to provide a continuing means of education, development, and mentoring for those who will follow. I commend you for your efforts to expand this program around the Air Force. It is a model that reflects our vision of mission excellence, development, and preparedness.

AFCOMAP fulfills this vision by providing our warriors with a mentoring program that links senior officers, cadets, and junior ROTC cadets together in a mentor-protege development chain. You work to ensure that all cadets and officers are mentored. And I'm particularly pleased with your efforts to mobilize young officers and cadets to promote the Air Force image in local communities that may have been isolated from our recruiting efforts. By seeking to stimulate the interest of youth in an Air Force career, we reach out to untapped segments of talent and ability, filling our ranks with Airmen from every segment of our rich national landscape.

And while I'm on the subject of our superb Airmen, let me say that it is my great personal honor to continue to represent you and the more than 700,000 active, guard, reserve and civilian men and women of the Air Force as your Secretary. I never did get the hang of saying "Huah!"

It was in the best interests of all concerned that I withdraw my name from consideration as Secretary of the Army. The Army needs a full complement of executive leadership, and we have many important issues on our Air Force agenda that require continued focused attention. As I said when nominated last summer, Service Before Self also is my motto. I will continue to serve the President, secretary of defense, and you with vigor and determination, and I will fight for what I believe is best for this nation, the department, and our Air Force, without worrying too much about who is unhappy about this or that Air Force initiative. After all, as I told Don Rumsfeld when I began the Air Force nomination process over three years ago, the alternatives to my continued service are spending my days with my bride of 43 years driving my Bella Machina (Ferrari) or sailing my boat on the Chesapeake. Now those aren't bad options are they?

I must admit, however, that it was entertaining reading some of the commentaries on why I withdrew. My favorite was the one that said I was a "lame duck" in the Air Force for the past 10 months. I wish someone had told me! And, Generals Lorenz, James, Jumper and some others.

One of the great outcomes of the President's confidence in my continued service is the opportunity to serve with one of the finest military officers who has ever worn the uniform of the United States armed forces, General John Jumper. It has been, and continues to be, my privilege to serve alongside this great American patriot, national servant and good friend. Our nation is fortunate to have him at the helm when the storm of terrorism came to our shores. He sends his greetings and asked me to pass on his congratulations to the awards winners.

Tonight, we celebrate the accomplishments of those who have made mentorship part of their daily service, and we honor an organization that prides itself on developing air and space professionals.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the significant anniversary we observed just yesterday. One year ago, hundreds of thousands of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines joined the fight in another battle of our war on terrorism. In just 21 days, our remarkable team had effectively broken coherent resistance in Baghdad and collapsed the regime's control.

One year later, Saddam Hussein's regime is out of power, the former dictator is sitting in prison, and the Transitional Administrative Law has been signed. Because the coalition enforced the will of the international community, America is more secure, the Iraqi people are free and democracy in Iraq has begun, and the principled action taken by the U.S. has sent our enemies a clear signal of our resolve in the Global War on Terror. Our nation is more secure because a dangerous regime with a history of aggression and links to terrorist organizations is no longer in power.

As democracy takes hold in Iraq, our message is that freedom can be the future of every nation, and that freedom improves the peace and security of the United States.

American troops and our coalition allies achieved these historic achievements through their brave and selfless sacrifice. The teamwork, mutual trust, and excellence of our joint and coalition force produced a great military victory. And, as we like to point out, our military successes in Afghanistan and Iraq were not accidents of history that might have been different had a battle or two gone in the favor of the enemy. On the contrary--for more than a decade, we've displayed unparalleled air and space dominance. The discipline of our Airmen, their dominance in warfighting, and their decisiveness in combat are the product of a sustained investment--an investment in the Airmen who fight, in the technology of warfighting, and in the concepts of operation that bring it all together. Fundamentally, these successes are a tribute to the outstanding men and women of our armed forces. Without them--and their courage in conflict--none of this would be possible.

That is why what AFCOMAP does is so important. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to our continued operational success to give something back to this great organization, our Air Force. One of the basic leadership principles of any successful team is the investment of time and energy in properly preparing successive generations. To adapt to our challenging world and develop Airmen prepared to operate in this dynamic environment, each of us must make a focused effort to develop those who will follow. As stewards of the future Air Force, we all have a stake in this mission.

There are many examples of this principle in action. But, one of my favorites is the story of General Lloyd "Fig" Newton, a good friend and colleague to many of you. One of the stories he enjoys telling is his selection to our premier aerial demonstration team, our Ambassadors in Blue, the Thunderbirds.

His story represents a wonderful example of how consequential your decisions of today can be on the Air Force of tomorrow. Further, the story reflects my views on mentoring and professional development--that we should seek out opportunities to develop those who follow, not because of some "legal obligation" to do so, or because of a so-called "societal obligation to correct a past wrong." We do so because of our focus on mission excellence.

The year was 1974, and the Thunderbirds were in the process of selecting the new team members for the 1975 show season.

The new commanding officer that year was Major Chris Patterakis. Major Patterakis was a New Mexico-born Greek-American, a prior-enlisted Airman who served seven years before earning his commission as an officer. He was the son of a farm laborer and grew up in a farming community of central California.

The Air Force reached out and found this outstanding American and gave him an opportunity to fly and to lead. And, in 1974, this Greek-American from central California selected an African-American from a historically black college in Tennessee for a position, and in doing so, changed our Air Force.

The selection process for the Thunderbirds required the current team to vet more than 100 nominations from various commands. That season, they were selecting just two pilots. All of them recommended by their commanders and presumed to be capable of performing the Thunderbird mission, which was not only flying, but also representing the Air Force and the United States to millions of people who would see their shows worldwide.

Most of you may know that a young Captain with the call sign "Fig" was selected that year, the first African-American pilot selected to the Thunderbirds. But, what most of you may not know is that he was selected, not in an effort to "fill a quota" or any other questionable motive. He was selected because he was one of the two best candidates for the job.

After the selection, Major Patterakis received a handful of comments from other African-American officers congratulating him for having the courage to "finally select" a black pilot to be a Thunderbird. Yet, from Major Patterakis' perspective, and in his own words, "it didn't take any courage for me to do that, we hired the best individual for the job." Nothing special, nothing unique.

And while then-Captain Newton's accomplishment will rightly be revered for the milestone it established, I agree with his commander's decision. You should all know that Major Patterakis, now retired, is part of my staff, and is one of my special assistant's for Community Relations. His was not a courageous decision--it was a principled decision. One that reflects our focus on mission excellence and mission-driven mentoring. Fig Newton was selected as a Thunderbird because he was ready and prepared to do the mission at a level of excellence worthy of our global Air Force ambassadors, the Thunderbirds.

No mixed motives, no quotas, no special breaks for the black pilot. He was ready. That's our challenge today. To make sure our people are ready, whether our people look like us or not. We need to reach out to all of our people and ensure they are developed. We need to make sure we don't rely on the 35 percent of the population that is white and male to do the mission. Nearly 20 percent of our force today is female. And they have contributed magnificently to our service. Not as women, but as Airmen who are also women. There is a tremendous amount of talent in our Air Force. By seeking it out and developing it, we maximize our capabilities and, at every level--flight, squadron, wing, or higher headquarters--we enable commanders to get their missions done.

When you ask Fig, he'll tell you that virtually all of the officers who mentored him didn't look like him. One African-American, retired Colonel Eddie Lavelle, was a major influence, but many other officers believed in him and pushed him along. He credits his commander in the Philippines, Lieutenant Colonel Charlie Goodwin, with preparing him as an officer and an aviator. And he gives significant credit to a former Thunderbird and colleague of his, Colonel (retired) Bill Elander, a former POW in Vietnam. Bill Elander took the time to help Fig put his application together. And what many don't know, is that it was Bill Elander, among others, who kept him focused on the prize, even when he failed to make the team the first time he applied. And when he didn't make it the second time he applied, he worked harder still. When he made it on his third attempt, he says the difference was that he was "ready." And he was prepared to succeed by people committed to developing an Airman for success. When Fig entered his second year on the Thunderbirds in 1976, he had the privilege of serving the team during our bicentennial celebrations across the United States. This was a proud moment for our nation, and with Fig representing us; it was a proud time for the Air Force as well.

If we want to increase our ability to get the job done, and perform our mission at the high levels the American people expect, we can't afford to let good people slip through the cracks. It would be a disservice to America and an injustice to the individual to let some people slip through without development because of our biases, or preconceived notions of someone's potential. We all know the end of the "Fig" Newton story. And we should remember it as we consider how to develop our nation's air and space force.

I had a similar experience in my professional career, yet mine was reversed. In my case, I was the junior officer, a surface warfare officer who was sought out and mentored by a black officer; a man who went on to the rank of vice admiral and later served as our nation's Ambassador to Kenya, Admiral Jerry Thomas. He earned a PhD from Yale, and he sought out young sea-going officers with advanced graduate degrees to help them along. He took the time to mentor me and give me a perspective on being a senior Naval officer. He challenged me, pushed me, cajoled me, and forced me to improve; to get the mission done and to prepare me for the future. We used to laugh when we realized that he was descended from a noble Massachusetts family, while I was the grandson of an illegal immigrant. I was a challenge for this cultured Naval leader. Admiral Thomas is a big part of the reason I am standing here before you today. And I owed it to him to give something back.

I did so later in the Navy and I continued the effort at Northrop Grumman in Baltimore where I made it a point with my executives that the next leadership team need not look like us. That we needed to develop people that capture the excellence of our entire nation. Among other things, I created opportunities for aspiring executives to interact with senior leaders. And, I trained the senior leaders.

During one off-site while I was at Northrop, I held an exercise where the current leadership team identified some of those who would follow in senior positions. What I noticed was that everyone on my current team picked someone for the future that looked like him or her. When I pointed that out to my team, the response was that others needed more development or training or experience. So we used the opportunity to make a mentoring plan, to give those who didn't look like those in leadership more training and development. You see, several minority candidates were viable, they just needed development. And that's the point of mentoring. Preparing everyone and ensuring that when opportunities arise, they are ready.

Diversity--Achieving Mission Excellence

The demands we face in the world today, and those we anticipate in the foreseeable future, require an air and space expeditionary force of the very best people our nation has to offer. Developing this global cadre of professional Airmen and defending our nation requires the Air Force to seek out and employ talented people from every corner of our society.

To that end, we need aircrews, intelligence specialists, satellite operators, aircraft maintainers, base defenders--and many others--Airmen with an understanding of the international environment, foreign language proficiency, and an appreciation of different cultures. We need expeditionary Airmen who have the right skill sets to contribute to coalition operations, shape events, and rapidly respond to worldwide contingencies. We need Airmen who have an appreciation of history and can apply the lessons of the past to deal with the uncertainties of the future. These skills are true force multipliers, and are essential to our ability to operate globally.

To achieve these objectives, we are committed to tapping into the diverse talent of America's rich national heritage. And once these talented Americans join our Air Force, we are committed to developing each of them to their fullest potential. We will develop them; and, we will demand and expect great things from them. It is a performance-based strategy, fostered by Air Force leaders to leverage the unique qualities of all of our members.

Ladies and gentlemen, in the Air Force, we are committed to diversity of gender, culture, thought, creativity, education, and problem solving skills. We value diversity for the wealth of insight, perspective, and skill it provides the Air Force, while enabling us to remain a unified force that achieves common goals and objectives. We are committed to the proposition that the Air Force should look like the nation it serves. Fundamentally, our focus on diversity is about achieving mission excellence, and sustaining the air and space dominance we enjoy today.

And just as AFCOMAP is focused on education and development, we find that the principal source of our long-term success is in developing Airmen. It is one of our Core Competencies, and is at the heart of our combat capability. We develop and mentor all of our Airmen, ensuring that when asked, they are prepared to do the mission or step into a leadership role. With this genuine focus on developing professional Airmen and capitalizing on the diverse talents they bring to our service, we ensure our ability to realize mission excellence.

Our award winners tonight are here because of their contributions to these fundamental objectives. They have excelled in a year of great demands. But in doing so, they helped prepare our Air Force for the challenges that lie ahead.

Tonight, I challenge each of you to continue the effort to bring the work of this organization to the entire Air Force, and to seek out and develop all of our talented Airmen. They need it, General Jumper and I expect it, and the American people deserve it.

Ladies and gentlemen, it has been my great privilege to speak with you this evening. May God bless you, and may He continue to bless this great nation. Thank you.