The
Air Force is made up of a wide variety of organizations, jobs, purposes and
people. Because of that diversity it can
be easy to feel a little lost in the crowd.
The marines states “every marine a rifleman” and in the army it’s “an
army of one.” The Air Force becomes a
little trickier. We are all airman,
however our jobs, tasks and backgrounds are significantly different from one
another. One thing that is always
drilled into every airman’s mind is that every airman is a wingman. We hear countless stories of bad and good
things happening either from being a good wingman or being a poor wingman. Being a wingman means you never leave your
buddy behind. This goes for the battlefield,
backshop, maintenance shop, flight line or even fueling a plane. It is important that we always watch each
other’s backs. Often when we go on Temporary
Duty assignments or deployments we are required to travel in groups of at least
two or three. At basic training and
field training for officers the same is required. When in a foreign country “general order
number one” states that we must always be with a wingman when out on the town.
At almost every single Commander’s Call
meeting the idea of being a good wingman is brought up and shared with
everyone. They discuss stories of sexual
assault or assault prevention, stories of airmen being attacked and rescued
because of their wingmen are endless. In
the Airman’s Creed it states, “I am an American Airman. Wingman, Leader, Warrior. I will never leave an Airman behind, I will
never falter, and I will not fail.” The
idea of the wingman means that you will always take care of those around
you. You will support and defend them
and stop them from making mistakes. This
idea comes from the flying formation of jets.
In a flying formation you have the lead and the wingman. The wingman flies to the right and slightly
behind the lead. This wingman protects the
lead by watching his back.
The stories we hear day in and day out about being a wingman are
ingrained in the fiber of our culture.
When problems arise the first question asked is “where was the wingman?” The support, closeness and sense of community
that is derived from these stories is immense and helps every member of the Air
Force to feel connected to one another and hopefully to have the desire to take
care of each other no matter the job, squadron or background.
I
have sat in many Commander’s Calls and listened to stories of how being a good
wingman can help others. These stories
are not always shared with extravagance or drama. Military leaders are not necessarily ever
trained to lead in this manner or through storytelling, however, they are still
often effective. In the book The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling Denning
states that “value comes from the story itself and from its role as part of a
larger whole” (Denning, 2011) . We as airmen
understand that these things could happen to any one of us and that each of
these stories shared could happen to any one of us. If you can’t trust the person next to you
then you could possibly die. This is just
as true at home station as it is in the deployed environment.
Most
of the time, when I witness stories being shared in the Air Force I usually see
two of the key elements of storytelling done well. These are truth and preparation. It is rare to see a leader that has a good
grasp on his or her own style of storytelling or how to deliver this in an
effective manner. When you do meet
someone with a good grasp of this it is that much better and easier to listen
to that person. Most of the time leaders
in the Air Force implement truth and preparation well and lack style and
delivery. Because of the significance
and our own connection to these stories the lack in style and delivery are not
as detrimental to the effectiveness of the story.
There
have been a number of occasions I have been grateful to have a good wingman by
my side and have thought back to the stories shared on this subject. The idea of being a good wingman and taking
care of each other is truly the core of what makes the Air Force great and
gives me the desire to continue with my career and life in this great
organization.
References
Denning, S. (2011). The Leader's Guide to
Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative. San
Fransisco: Josey-Bass.
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