Call conveys commander's priorities

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Kristopher Levasseur
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  Hundreds of Airmen gathered at Hanger 6 to listen with anticipation to Brig. Gen. John Hesterman, 48th Fighter Wing commander speak at a commander's call Aug. 31.

The focus of the commander's call was for General Hesterman to convey his expectations of all Liberty Warriors and what they can expect of him.

"The reason you are here is because I think at least once, you all need to hear what your wing commander's priorities and expectations are from his or hers own mouth," said General Hesterman.

General Hesterman went on to talk about his families' long-standing history in the military.

"The reason I tell you this is because the one thing my family misses about the military is not the work, it's the people who were always there for them," said General Hesterman. "They miss the people that had their back all the time; they miss the people they can trust their lives with."

The first priority on General Hesterman's list is the mission.

"We're war fighters on this base, this is what we do. In the end we have to get things done," said General Hesterman. "The good news is that we do it well."

General Hesterman said his second priority is taking care of all Liberty Warriors.

"I think my first priority comes to us pretty easy if we take care of ourselves, take care of our families and take care of each other," said General Hesterman. "My job and the jobs of our leaders is to help you take care of your personal and professional issues."

The final priority on General Hesterman's list is the safety of our people.

"We are all about managing risk," said General Hesterman. "As a military organization, we need to know the difference between acceptable and unacceptable risks."

"If you're a fighter pilot and you're defending the base, we are going to accept a tremendous amount of risk to protect the things we hold dear," said General Hesterman. "On the flip side, if we are going against a target we don't have to kill right then, we are going to accept a lot less risk."

In the spirit of General Hesterman's speech, he urged supervisors to send their troops home for the day to spend time with their friends and families.