Page 2 - Luke AFB Thunderbolt 3-11-16

March 11, 2016 COMMENTARY
2 www.aerotechnews.com/lukeafb
Luke Community Chapel
Holy Week
Date Time Service Location
March 22 6 p.m. Ecumenical Seder Meal Luke Community Chapel
March 24 7 p.m. Mass of the Last Supper LCC
March 25 3 p.m. Living Stations of the Cross Chapel on the Mall
(Followed by Soup and Bread Dinner at 6 p.m.) White chapel near Club Five Six his best wishes on my birthday. A second one thanked me
MarcMha2r5ch 71,pR.me.conciVlieanteiorantion of the Cross LCC
MarcSher2v5ice6 p.m. Good Friday Protestant Service COM
March 26 7:30 p.m. Easter Vigil Mass LCC
March 27 7 a.m. Easter Protestant Sunrise Service COM
March 27 9 a.m. Easter Protestant Combined Service COM
March 27 10 a.m. Easter Sunday Mass Base theater
Lenten Lunch 12:30 p.m. Wednesdays LCC Annex
ACTION LINE
IZSD#XVDIPLO
The Commander’s Action Line
is your direct line to me with ques-
tions or suggestions about subjects
of concern to the entire Luke Air
Force Base community.
I appreciate your feedback.
Your ideas and concerns help
build a stronger foundation on
which we can successfully com-
plete our mission and take care of
our people.
To receive a response, leave %ULJ*HQ6FRWW3OHXV
your name and telephone number. WK):FRPPDQGHU
Action Lines of general interest are
printed in the Thunderbolt. Remember, the quickest and
most efficient way to resolve a problem is to talk directly to
the responsible agency or through your chain of command.
The Action Line isn’t just for complaints. Send along
your kudos when someone provides exceptional service,
goes out of their way to help or deserves a kind word.
PHONE NUMBERS
Airman and Family Readiness Center ....................... 623-856-6550
Chapel ................................................................... 623-856-6211
Child Care Center ...................................................623-856-6339
Community Center ............................................... 623-856-7152
Computer IT service desk .................................. DSN 945-2900
Eye Clinic ............................................................. 623-856-7965
Fitness Center ....................................................... 623-856-6241
Flight Medicine .................................................... 623-856-2273
Fraud, waste and abuse hotline ............................ 623-856-6149
Hobby shop .......................................................... 623-856-6722
+RXVLQJR൶FH carrots in the first pot, eggs in the shell, the senior airman observed
Law enforcement desk ......................................... 623-856-5970
Legal assistance .................................................... 623-856-6901
Library .................................................................. 623-856-7191
Marketing ............................................................. 623-856-3245
Military Equal Opportunity ................................. 623-856-7711
Military pay .......................................................... 623-856-7028
2൶FHRI6SHFLDO,QYHVWLJDWLRQ .............................623-856-6821
Outdoor Recreation .............................................. 623-856-6267
Pass and registration ............................................. 623-856-4880
Patient advocate ................................................... 623-856-8968
3XEOLF$൵DLUV 'HVLJQHU7LQQD6HOOLH LVDQDXWKRUL]HGSXEOLFDWLRQIRUPHPEHUVRIWKH86PLOLWDU\VHUYLFHV&RQWHQWVRIWKH
Security Forces ..................................................... 623-856-5970
Straight Talk Line ................................................. 623-856-7064
Sexual Assault Prevention/Response .................. 623-856-4878
Vehicle Maintenance ............................................ 623-935-6576
Veterinary services ............................................... 623-856-6354
Wellness Center .................................................... 623-856-2273
Youth Center ......................................................... 623-856-7470
Thunderbolt
http://www.luke.af.mil
Feedback essential to AF integrity
by Lt. Col. You must be deliberate and judicious when giving
JOHN HANSEN feedback to your ratees. Most people take feedback given
to them seriously, and they may even take it personally.
86th Comptroller Squadron
Consequently, it is vital to take the time to prepare the
I was going through some old files, and I found a few notes exact message you want to convey and the most appropri-
that were written to me by the comptroller of a major com- ate method in which to deliver it. A simple sentence may
mand on several different occasions. One letter conveyed resound with your ratee long after your feedback session,
with positive or negative impacts lasting years or even
and my unit for our hospitality during his recent visit to throughout that member’s entire career.
the base. These letters reminded me how important it is to
maintain constant communication at all levels. Moreover, feedback should not be one-directional. Subor-
dinates and peers need to engage in a constant, fact-based
The letters also reminded me of the lost art of written cross-feed with one another. If your organization has a
communication. These were not short emails tasking me disruptive person, his or her peers have the responsibility
with suspense or requesting information; they were hand- to step up and let the person know they are negatively
written letters that showed he took the time to sit down affecting the unit. Conversely, peers can provide positive
at his desk and write them longhand, with the singular reinforcement when they see a member suffering. That
purpose of providing positive feedback from one profes- positive communication can be the impetus for turning
sional to another. someone’s day or even their life around.
As I am also in the middle of performing midterm feed- Subordinates can provide valuable feedback as well.
back sessions, they reminded me I should take a great deal There seems to be the temptation not to tell the boss bad
of time to carefully prepare the Airman Comprehensive news, but, as the saying goes, bad news never gets better
Assessment feedback worksheet, Air Force Form 724. with time.
The Air Force specifically designed this new feedback Telling the emperor that he or she has no clothes might
form in order to better facilitate a dialogue between a be difficult or embarrassing, but the only way to affect
member and supervisor. In fact, this form will need to change is if subordinates provide positive, constructive,
be routed through the coordination process for members’ fact-based feedback to the organization’s leadership.
enlisted performance reports. In addition to taking the Subordinates, and everyone for that matter, need to un-
time to complete the form, I sat down with each individual derstand that there is a tactful way to provide feedback,
and provided feedback, in terms of improvements to be and, when in doubt, use the Golden Rule on how you’d
made and behavior to sustain. communicate feedback in that situation.
It is not necessarily easy to provide honest feedback. Honest and constructive feedback is essential to the in-
Obvious deficiencies can be easy to identify and com- tegrity of our Air Force units. The Air Force has developed
municate, but it can be difficult to come up with areas the tools and processes to facilitate this dialogue, but it
of improvement for your unit’s outstanding performers. is up to each and every one of us, at all levels, to provide
However, it can and must be done, as everyone has room deliberate feedback to our subordinates, peers and leaders
for improvement. in a way that is tactful and professional.
Overcoming failures opportunity for growth
by Maj. After 20 minutes, he fished the Finally, he asked the senior air-
ERIC TUCKER carrots out and placed them in a man to sip the coffee. He smiled as
bowl. He pulled the eggs out and he tasted the coffee with its rich
509th Communications Squadron placed them in a bowl. Then he aroma.
ladled the coffee out into a cup.
You will fail. The question is … Turning to the senior airman, the The senior airman said, “nice, but
how will you respond? staff sergeant asked, “Tell me, what what does all this mean?”
do you see?”
This reminds me of a parable of The staff sergeant laughed and
the carrot, egg and coffee. “Carrots, eggs and coffee,” the explained that each of these objects
senior airman replied. had faced the same adversity —
A senior airman was distraught boiling water — but each reacted
when he learned he did not make Then he asked the senior airman differently.
staff sergeant after his first time to feel the carrots, which he did and
testing. His staff sergeant supervi- noted they were soft and mushy. “Which are you?” the staff sergeant
sor saw a teaching opportunity and asked, “are you a carrot that seems
the next day he filled three pots with The staff sergeant then asked strong, but with pain and adversity,
water and placed each on a stove. the senior airman to take an egg becomes soft and loses strength?
After they came to a boil, he placed and break it. After pulling off the Are you the egg that appears not to
change but whose heart is hardened?
second and ground coffee in the last. the hard-boiled egg.
See )$,/85(6Page 15
Luke Editorial Staff 7KH7KXQGHUEROWXVHVPDWHULDOIURPWKH$UPHG)RUFHV,QIRUPDWLRQ6HUYLFH$LU
)RUFH1HZV6HUYLFH$(7&1HZV6HUYLFHDQGRWKHUVRXUFHV$OODGYHUWLVLQJLVKDQGOHG
&RPPDQGHU %ULJ*HQ6FRWW3OHXV E\$HURWHFK1HZVDQG5HYLHZ7KH\FDQEHUHDFKHGE\FDOOLQJ
3XEOLF$ႇDLUVFKLHI /W&RO0DWW+DVVRQ
3XEOLF$ႇDLUVGHSXW\FKLHI .LOH\'RXJKHUW\ 7KH7KXQGHUEROWLVSXEOLVKHGE\$HURWHFK1HZVDQG5HYLHZDSULYDWH¿UPLQQR
,QWHUQDOLQIRUPDWLRQ 6WDႇ6JW6WDFL0LOOHU ZD\FRQQHFWHGZLWKWKH86$LU)RUFHXQGHUH[FOXVLYHZULWWHQFRQWUDFWZLWKWKHWK
(GLWRU 'HERUDK/HXWKROG )LJKWHU:LQJ/XNH$LU)RUFH%DVH$UL]7KLVFLYLOLDQHQWHUSULVH$LU)RUFHQHZVSDSHU
7KXQGHUEROWDUHQRWQHFHVVDULO\WKHRႈFLDOYLHZVRIRUHQGRUVHGE\WKH86JRYHUQ
Editorial Information PHQWWKH'HSDUWPHQWRI'HIHQVHRUWKH'HSDUWPHQWRIWKH$LU)RUFH
For past issues of the Thunderbolt, go to 7KHDSSHDUDQFHRIDGYHUWLVLQJLQWKLVSXEOLFDWLRQLQFOXGLQJLQVHUWVRUVXSSOHPHQWV
www.aerotechnews.com/lukeafb/ and click on PDF edition GRHVQRWFRQVWLWXWHHQGRUVHPHQWRIWKHSURGXFWVRUVHUYLFHVDGYHUWLVHGE\WKH'2'
7KHWK)LJKWHU:LQJ3XEOLF$ႇDLUV2ႈFHSUHSDUHVDOOHGLWRULDOFRQWHQWIRUWKH WKH'HSDUWPHQWRIWKH$LU)RUFHRU$HURWHFK1HZVDQG5HYLHZ
7KXQGHUEROW7KHHGLWRUZLOOHGLWRUUHZULWHPDWHULDOIRUFODULW\EUHYLW\RUWRFRQIRUPZLWK
$LU)RUFHVW\OHDVUHTXLUHGE\$LU)RUFH,QVWUXFWLRQ6XEPLVVLRQGHDGOLQHLVDW (YHU\WKLQJDGYHUWLVHGLQWKLVSXEOLFDWLRQVKDOOEHPDGHDYDLODEOHIRUSXUFKDVH
QRRQWKH:HGQHVGD\QLQHGD\VSULRUWRWKHGHVLUHGSXEOLFDWLRQGDWH&RQWULEXWLRQVIRU XVH RU SDWURQDJH ZLWKRXW UHJDUG WR UDFH FRORU UHOLJLRQ VH[ QDWLRQDO RULJLQ DJH
WKH7KXQGHUEROWFDQEHPDGHWRWKH3XEOLF$ႇDLUVRႈFH:HVW)DOFRQ6WUHHW PDULWDOVWDWXVSK\VLFDOKDQGLFDSSROLWLFDODႈOLDWLRQRUDQ\RWKHUQRQPHULWIDFWRURI
/XNH$LU)RUFH%DVH$UL]RUWKURXJKHPDLOWR):3$7KXQGHUEROW#XVDI WKHSXUFKDVHUXVHURUSDWURQ
PLO7KHHGLWRUFDQEHUHDFKHGDWDQGWKHID[QXPEHULV
(GLWRULDOFRQWHQWLVHGLWHGSUHSDUHGDQGSURYLGHGE\WKH3XEOLF$ႇDLUVRႈFHRI
/XNH$)%$UL]$OOSKRWRJUDSKVDUH$LU)RUFHSKRWRJUDSKVXQOHVVRWKHUZLVHLQGLFDWHG