Warrior's corner.

Surface Warriors,

I am sure everyone remembers the "Wizard of Oz", the story of a little girl trying to find her way home, a scarecrow looking for a brain, a tin man looking for a heart and a cowardly lion looking for some courage. Together they journey to Oz to see the Wizard who helps them in their cause.

Just like in this classic, today--everyday, we face our share of witches, lions and tigers and bears--oh my, that come in various forms depending on our unique challenges. We are trying to find our way through daily missions, transformation and restructuring, searching for the brains or know how to solve our problems or answer questions, the heart to show the genuine concern and respect for one another, and the courage to stand up for what's right, even if it means you will have to stand alone.

I've seen it in my travels to our War Traced units (reserve units under the SDDC umbrella), our civilians, Soldiers and our Active units across the globe as we strive to synchronize our way of doing business, how we train, mobilize and deploy as a unified force to support our military, civilian and family members at home and abroad. We have grown to join and surpass the elder statesmen who have long clenched on to the title of "first in--last out." In our end-to-end role--we stand first in line to be the new bearers of this title--this claim to fame. I am very proud to serve along side such a professional and successful team.

So at the end of the day, when all has been said and all continues to be done, if you look deep inside yourself and believe, you'll see that you're not lost but have clear direction in where you need to go; you possess the brains to turn problems into solutions; you have the heart it takes to be caring, fair, and just, and the courage to face and overcome any obstacle set before you. As you take that deep relaxing breath you'll see in our land of Oz, there's a little Wizard in all of us!

Let's Roll!

SDDC Command Sgt. Maj. Tomas R. Hawkins

WARRIOR ETHOS

In a continuing effort to ensure our motto--Surface Warriors--Let's Roll!--is emphasized throughout the command, I need military and cilvilian leaders at every level to spread the understanding that we as members of the United States have a fighter's attitude, a never quit mentality, a warrior spirit that will always surface when challenged or threatened in anything we do. We all are Surface Warriors at SDDC. I ask that you place a copy of the SDDC Warrior Ethos in your work place and when those challenging times arise, take a few minutes to read over it and become refocused on what you're doing ... It helps me. It will do the same for you!