Page 2 - Nellis AFB Bullseye 6-19-15

2 June 19, 2015
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Dear Dad: A letter to my father
By Airman 1st Class Mikaley Towle
99th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. — I sat
in the very back of the classroom, not paying
much attention to the man in blue giving
a presentation to my eighth grade civics
class. He was saying something about core
values, pride and doing something for the
community you could be proud of.
He told stories of how the students in his
program grew and gained the confidence
to lead. He spoke of how even troubled
students were able to turn their high school
careers around and find success.
I didn’t understand it at the time, but
when I looked up, it felt like he was looking
and speaking to me.
I wasn’t too sure why I signed up for Air
Force Junior ROTC that day, but reflecting
back now it was one of the best decisions I
Leadership: Is there an app for that?
By Chief Master Sgt. Lee R. Barr
8th Fighter Wing
KUNSAN AIR BASE, Republic of
Korea — The world is growing more and
more dependent on technology.
Even our U.S. Air Force has become au-
tomated to improve programs, processes
and quality of life for Airmen.
We have Facebook, smartphones,
BlackBerries, MyMC2 (My Military
Communities), Twitter, Facetime, Skype,
webpages, Sharepoint, EMS (Evaluation
Management System) and many more
I could list. You get the point; we are a
connected society in the U.S. Air Force.
There seems to be an app for anything you
can imagine. When I speak with Airmen
today, they say “oh Chief, there’s an app
for that,” or they show me something on
their smartphone and say “I downloaded
the app.” about your calling as a leader. I believe
We constantly hear “there’s an app for
that,” which got me thinking what if there
was an app for leadership. A leadership
app! The Professional Development Guide
In this new world of marvelous tech-
nology, wouldn’t it be nice to have a lead-
ership app? Just download the leadership
app and voila, you have instant leadership.
Bullseye News Staff
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ever made. I didn’t know it that day, but I
had just met that man that I am proud to
call my father.
Since I can’t be there to celebrate Father’s
Day with you, I’ll write you a letter to express
the things I can’t tell you in person.
Dear Dad,
By the time you met my mom, you were
already retired from active duty after serving
for 26 years. I personally didn’t grow up in
an Air Force family, but I spent years watch-
ing and listening to your stories about your
time flying and all the friends you made
along the way. I wanted that same camara-
derie and closeness with people.
As my time in high school was coming
to a close, I still wasn’t sure of what I wanted
to do with my life. One thing I was certain
of was I wanted to go out and do something
you would be proud of. I wanted to be like
you. It was because of you that I made the
Years of experience gained instantaneous-
ly from our Air Force’s greatest leaders
— done. Why stop there? Let’s download
apps for our social ills: a sexual assault
app, suicide intervention app, underage
drinking app and a responsible choices
app. Wouldn’t that be great to have leader-
ship and solutions to everything that ails
the Air Force at our fingertips?
Unfortunately, you and I know that’s
not how it works. Leadership is not easy! risk. We must make sure our actions are
You may have heard someone say “natural
born leader” or seen it in a performance
report. This has been debated for years
and I don’t think we’ll solve that question
here. What I do know is this: leadership
is the recipe to solve any issue in our great
Air Force. It takes energy and time to
become a good leader; dare I say a great
leader. It requires leadership molecules
and an investment on our part to become
an effective leader. As a leader, you have
to care about people and be passionate
in order to become a great leader, you
must choose to be a servant — to serve
something larger than yourself.
defines leadership as the art of influencing
and directing people to accomplish the
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choice to follow in your footsteps and join
the Air Force.
Being stationed at Nellis Air Force Base,
just as you had once been, gives me a small
glimpse of what your time on active duty
might have been like. Granted, my job as a
photojournalist is drastically different than
yours was as an F-4 Phantom pilot.
I’ve learned many things from you; to
have compassion when it’s needed, to honor
my commitments, to always do my best, to
be proud of the work I do, and to always
have an unwavering determination to get
the best for myself out of life. Most impor-
tantly, you helped give me something I had
been searching for myself for years — the
confidence in myself to help me grow into
the person I am today.
I know I didn’t make it easy for you to
get to know me. I kept myself distant, I
constantly picked fights with you, and I
mission while Merriam-Webster defines
leadership first as the position or office of
a leader, and second, the capacity or ability
to lead. Although it would be great to have
a leadership app, the simple truth is that we
struggle with leadership particularly in our
early stages of becoming a leader. always wanted.” In other words, be the
We learn from our mistakes, praying we
don’t hurt an Airman or break something
really expensive that places the mission at
legal, ethical and moral. We must learn
from others, taking what works from those
around us and throwing away what doesn’t
work or fit your personality. Since Wolf
and I arrived here at the Wolf Pack, we’ve
had our community support coordinator
administer “true colors” tests to Airmen. Airmen — our most valuable resource. The
It’s a really great tool and uses a simple,
but very effective method to help you learn
what type of person you are by identifying
strengths and weaknesses. By helping you
understand yourself and others better, you
learn to develop effective leadership. ership, however, you are the most edu-
With that said, let me give you two
thoughts concerning leadership and how
to be a great leader. First, live by the golden
rule — treat others as you want them to
treat you. Would you disrespect yourself? — we need you.
Would you create a hostile work environ-
status, physical handicap, political affiliation or any other
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generally didn’t listen to the things you were
trying to tell me. Despite all these things, you
still loved me and always considered me as
one of your own.
I want to thank you for always being there
to support me. Along with knowing when I
was making mistakes, but letting me make
them and learn valuable life lessons. Thank
you for inspiring me to reach for more in
my life and guiding me along my own Air
Force adventure. Even though your kids
were all grown-up, I wanted to thank you
for being the father you didn’t have to be to
my brother and I.
Happy Father’s Day,
Your Daughter.
To my Air Force family, remember to
contact your father this Father’s Day. I hope
all the fathers out there have a happy Father’s
Day this weekend.
ment for yourself? It’s simple, but effective
— the more complicated you make it, the
more ineffective it becomes. Second, is a
quote I’ve used that was given to me from
my former wing commander, Maj. Gen.
Thomas Bussiere; “be the supervisor you
supervisor you wish your supervisor had
been to you. Please don’t misunderstand
what I’m saying. As leaders we hold people
accountable, but holding a person account-
able has nothing to do with not respecting
them and creating a hostile work environ-
ment. Leadership takes courage. The Air
Force requires leadership, especially as
we go through various force management
programs, force reduction and new evalu-
ation systems. It takes leadership to lead
Air Force needs leadership to successfully
execute the mission and take care of our
Airmen and our families.
Unfortunately, there’s no app for lead-
cated and technologically savvy generation
working in the greatest Air Force the world
has ever known. I’m counting on you to
invest the time, energy and the leadership
molecules it takes to be that great leader

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