Page 2 - Thunderbolt Nov. 2 2016

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November 2016 www.aerotechnews.com/lukeafb
COMMENTARY Thunderbolt http://www.luke.af.mil
‘#BeThere’ before the call
PHONE NUMBERS
Airman and Family Readiness Center ................................. 623-856-6550 Airman’s Attic ......................................................................... 623-856-6415 Armed Forces Bank ............................................................... 623-535-9766 Base Exchange main store ..................................................... 623-935-2671 Base taxi ................................................................................... 623-856-6866 Beauty shop ............................................................................. 623-536-1897 Chapel ...................................................................................... 623-856-6211 Chapel (after duty hours) ....................................................... 623-856-5600 Child development center ...................................................... 623-856-6338 Clothing sales .......................................................................... 623-856-6310 Club Five Six ........................................................................... 623-856-6446 Command post ........................................................................ 623-856-5600 Commissary ............................................................................ 623-935-3821 Community center .................................................................. 623-856-7152 Computer IT service desk .................................................... DSN 945-2900 Crime Stop ............................................................................... 623-856-6666 Dental clinic ............................................................................. 623-856-2273 Dermatology ............................................................................ 623-856-2273 Dining hall ............................................................................... 623-856-6396 Dorm management ................................................................. 623-856-7841 Education center ..................................................................... 623-856-7722 EMERGENCY ONLY ............................................................................ 911 Equal opportunity ................................................................... 623-856-7711 Eye clinic ................................................................................. 623-856-7965 Falcon Dunes Golf Course .................................................... 623-535-9334 Family health clinic ................................................................ 623-856-2273 Family housing ....................................................................... 623-388-3515 Fire station ............................................................................... 623-856-6641 Firestone Car Care .................................................................. 623-271-8104 Fitness center ........................................................................... 623-856-6241 Flight medicine ....................................................................... 623-856-2273 Food court ................................................................................ 623-935-2671 Fort Tuthill ............................................................................... 623-856-3401 Fraud, waste and abuse hotline ............................................. 623-856-6149 Hobby shop ............................................................................. 623-856-6722 Housing assistance section .................................................... 623-856-7643 Housing facilities section ....................................................... 623-856-3007 Housing maintenance ............................................................. 623-935-2676 .................................................................. 623-856-7832 Information, tickets and travel ............................................... 623-856-6000 Law enforcement desk ........................................................... 623-856-5970 Legal assistance ....................................................................... 623-856-6901 Library ...................................................................................... 623-856-7191 Lightning Gate visitor reception center ................................ 623-856-4880 ................................................... 623-856-3941 Maintenance control center ................................................... 623-856-5469 Marine Corps ........................................................................... 623-856-2417 Marine Corps 24-hour duty desk .......................................... 602-421-5806 Marketing ................................................................................ 623-856-3245 Medical appointments ............................................................ 623-856-2273 Military equal opportunity ..................................................... 623-856-7711 Military pay ............................................................................. 623-856-7028 Navy Operations Support Center .......................................... 602-353-3008 ....................................................................... 623-856-2273 ............................................ 623-856-6821 Optometrist .............................................................................. 623-856-2273 Orthopedic clinic ..................................................................... 623-856-2273 Outdoor recreation .................................................................. 623-856-6267 Pass and registration ............................................................... 623-856-4880 Patient advocate ...................................................................... 623-856-8968 Pediatric clinic ......................................................................... 623-856-2273 ............................................................ 623-856-3969 Photo services .......................................................................... 623-856-6168 ............................................................................... 623-935-1343 ............................................................................ 623-856-6011 Recycling information ............................................................ 623-856-4749 Rodgers Travel ........................................................................ 623-856-6894 Safety ........................................................................................ 623-856-6941 Security forces ..........................................................................623-856-5970 Security incidents .................................................................... 623-856-7777 Service calls CE maintenance ............................................... 623-856-7232 ................................... 623-856-4878 Shoppette ................................................................................. 623-266-0040 Sick call .................................................................................... 623-856-2273 South Gate VRC ..................................................................... 623-856-4768 Straight-Talk line ..................................................................... 623-856-7064 Telephone repair (Base) ......................................................... 623-856-4400 Thrift store ............................................................................... 623-935-5782 ..................................................................... 623-856-6000 ....................... 623-856-6425 TMO passenger travel ............................................................ 623-856-7035 Transient alert .......................................................................... 623-856-6204 Travel pay ................................................................................ 623-856-7028 Vehicle maintenance ............................................................... 623-935-6576 Veterinary services .................................................................. 623-856-6354 Weather .................................................................................... 623-856-6805 Wellness center ........................................................................ 623-856-2273 Youth center ............................................................................. 623-856-7470
by Master Sgt. WENDY BARRAZA
Headquarters Individual Reservist Readiness and Integration Organization
When the phone rings in the middle of the night, it’s like an alarm going off in your brain. No one calls at one in the morning to say they were “just thinking of you.”
I received one of those calls 13 years ago and woke to my mom telling me my dad had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The words didn’t sink in right away; I had to ask her to repeat herself. I can’t image the difficulty she endured to do this.
My dad was a Navy veteran and a high performer. He was incredibly successful as a nuclear power engineer. Unfortunately, he was not able to tackle life’s challenges without substance abuse or an addiction. These varied over the years, from gambling to drinking, to smoking, to overeating; he would replace one with another in a constant struggle to adapt to life. I don’t know for sure, but I suspect he filled the void with those substances because he didn’t have anyone to help him. As the breadwinner for the fam- ily, I think he felt he had to appear strong and deal with things on his own. This left him alone with no one he could just open up to about how he was feeling.
At the time of his death, it was very difficult for me to
process my dad’s suicide without resentment. I felt he had damaged my mom. I felt he had committed a horribly self- ish act. I felt angry that my mom and brother missed him so much when I didn’t find him to be a particularly good person. It never occurred to me how alone he felt in that moment, alone enough to see suicide as the only solution to end his pain.
A few years after this, I became a first sergeant and re- ceived extensive training on how to help those struggling with suicide. I also began counseling with suicide survivors and victims. These encounters educated me and gave me a new perspective on how people think when they are consid- ering suicide and how to respond to them. When someone’s arm is cut off, we don’t just tell them to change their frame of mind, and they’ll feel better. When someone is diabetic, we don’t tell them it’s unhealthy to take medication every day to survive. When someone has the flu, we don’t ask them, “Have you ever tried not having the flu?”
What I came to understand is that we should never mini- mize someone’s struggle and that we need to be there for our wingmen when they are going through rough patches. Isolation and hopelessness are dark times, and the perma- nent effects of decisions made in those times can create a ripple effect of sadness through families and organizations.
See #BETHERE, Page 15
‘You failed ... or did you?
Analyzing failure, realizing success
by Col.
RYAN SAMUELSON
379th Expeditionary Operations Group
Editors note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official pol- icy or position of the Air Force, Defense Department or the U.S. government.
AL UDEID AIR BASE, Qatar —
“We have an issue. I’ll call him in and figure out why he failed to ...,” said the supervisor who walked into my office that sunny day.
“Stop,” I said, “Find out the facts, let me see the outcome of the mistake, and let me see if I own it before you say he failed.”
A puzzled look from the supervisor ensued. The details of the individual and the failure are inconsequential. Tying failure immediately to an individual seemed too easy a conclusion for me. What mattered was the process of ana- lyzing failure in hopes of realizing unit
success. After all, in the military, amaz- ing patriots who strive to make a posi- tive difference every day surround us.
A rush to judge the professional who experienced failure before engaging in a rational evaluation of all the details is detrimental to building a team that is eager to serve, learn, fix and better execute our Air Force’s diverse mis- sions. In over 22 years of service, I have come to believe nearly 97 percent of all events we deem as failures by a person or a team are attributed to one of three reasons; and supervisors and leaders own them. Let us evaluate:
First, did you properly set out expec- tations and provide appropriate and robust feedback? It is the foundation for everything. Where those on your team finish is rooted in where you ask them to start. If you have not set out clear priori- ties, expectations, limitations and goals, take caution criticizing the paths they take. Course corrections ingrained with
open and consistent communication are paramount to setting up professionals and their teams for success. If you are in charge, listen intently, ponder more and talk less. Seek feedback, provide it and make your expectations concise.
Second, did you properly train, more importantly, educate the professionals with whom you serve? The demands of training for the multitude of missions Airmen are asked to accomplish often drive us to one-on-one computer-based training modules and short slideshows. That is training and it is an impor- tant step, but it is not education. The bedrock of our military success is com- prised of a professionally educated, not just trained, force. Only through consis- tent supervisor follow-up, experience- driven opportunities, team discussions, leadership engagement, and an open and collaborative review of failures are
See SUCCESS, Page 15
Thunderbolt editorial staff
Publisher ....................................................Aerotech News and Review Editor ........................................................................... Deborah Leuthold Designer .................................................................................Tinna Sellie
Luke Air Force Base
Commander....................................................Brig. Gen. Brook Leonard ................................................ Lt. Col. Matt Hasson .......................................... Kiley Dougherty Command information ............................Master Sgt. Michael Jackson
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