Commentary: Leaders inspire Airmen in uncertain times Published March 11, 2014 By Tech. Sgt. Aimee Roth 48th Fighter Wing chapel resources NCO-in-charge ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England -- "The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant." -Max DePree If you've never seen The Hunger Games, it's a movie about a human lottery, forcing people to fight to the death, with only one victor. For many of our Airmen, the force reduction feels like the movie. They fear the next few years will be a competition - ruthless, ugly - with only a few surviving with their career intact. Force support is working hard to define this ever-changing reality. As leaders amidst the in-between stages, we best serve our Airmen by keeping the force reduction on the forefront of our minds, even if it only seems to be in the back of their minds. They may not be vulnerable this year, but they know someone who is. Confusion, uncertainty and fear can catch like a wild fire, only further increasing the stress our Airmen are under. As leaders, the simplest, genuine display of concern has tremendous power. Your time and energy is limited, we all know that, but more specifically, your Airmen know that. Which is why, when you demonstrate that their wellbeing and future either in or out of the Air Force is important to you, it has a large impact with a rippling effect. You may never see that effect, but it's definitely there, breathing confidence back into our warfighters and getting them to refocus and carry out the mission.