Move the Chains: Simple Guidance to New Commanders

  • Published
  • By Col. Robert Novotny
  • 48th Fighter Wing Commander
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  Command is one of the most precious opportunities someone can have in the military. As a commander, you have been charged by an organization to lead Airmen in the defense of our nation.

It is a sacred privilege to be trusted with the lives of others to accomplish a difficult mission. I’ve been fortunate to command at the squadron, group and now wing level – and each time is better than the last.

Without a doubt, command is also one of the most challenging, frustrating and, in some cases, heart-breaking jobs you’ll ever have…especially if you don’t have the right initial expectations. Command courses these days are flush with the “don’ts” – they talk about money and Inspector General words of caution; they talk about safety and sexual assault prevention, flying hours and maintenance statistics.

One of my squadron commanders told me that his pre-command course consistently warned him about the bad things he could do that would result in him being fired from command. Huh? I think we’ve taken for granted that new squadron commanders know how to command, when, in fact, it may be their first command posting ever. One area new commanders struggle with, is setting realistic and achievable goals for their unit.

Like many new squadron commanders, I thought I would change the world. I believed for a short period of time that my first command was an opportunity to craft a new way of leading a squadron and produce results unseen to date. I wanted to score a touchdown as a commander. Let me tell you…I was disappointed. I had grand visions of what my first command would be like, and I was not happy with my performance. I know I didn’t score a touchdown. Fortunately, my bosses thought I did okay and gave me another shot. It was in my second and third command postings that I learned what was important…I didn’t need to score a touchdown, instead I needed to “move the chains.”

“Moving the chains” is a colloquialism from American football, and, if the team on offense “moves the chains,” it means they’re making progress. They have achieved a new set of downs, retaining possession of the football on offense. They are advancing their team down the field, putting their opponents on their heels and setting the game tempo. Teams that win football games tend to possess the ball more often and achieve more first downs. While instinctively, a team must score points to win, possession of the ball provides the greatest opportunity to do so.

Commanders must move the chains of their organizations. Simply put, the Air Force is counting on you to leave your organization, having made it better than how you found it. A ‘touchdown’ might be synonymous to taking your unit to war, fighting bravely and achieving our national objectives. Some commanders are fortunate to lead their units in combat, but, by and large, most do not. So how do we measure good leadership? We measure it merely by gauging the quality of your organization compared to its status when you were handed the guidon.

My advice to new commanders is this…improve, improve and improve your organization. First, increase your unit’s effectiveness, and, if you can promote greater efficiency at the same time, do that as well. Understand and communicate how your unit fits into the big picture, and make sure your Airmen know how important their job is to the security of our nation. Get your mission done!

Second, enhance your organization’s culture and morale. That objective doesn’t mean we have dunk tanks and pizza parties, or spend all day at unit physical training. Instead, you create an environment where leaders are rewarded, hardworking Airmen are promoted and standards are upheld. No one wants to work in a unit where the losers continue to “skate by” and the “wolves” pick up their slack. Foster a positive, motivated and disciplined climate in your flight or squadron. When Airmen make mistakes, correct them, train them, and then move on. Hold a high standard, and enforce it. We are not a private company. We are responsible for killing the enemy…lots of them. And, as such, we must hold ourselves to a standard that may be foreign to our civilian counterparts. Did you ever watch the “Baa Baa Black Sheep” TV show from the late 1970s? It was about a group of disheveled, mildly hungover and mostly insubordinate fighter pilots on the ground, who could leap into the sky and fight miraculously in the face of the enemy. That’s all BS. A well-disciplined unit in peacetime will be a lethal unit in combat. We have enough mission for a million Airmen, but we only have about 314,000 of them. If we have one Airman who doesn’t produce at work because of the organization’s climate, we are less mission effective.

Third, be a restless leader. Find those areas that need improvement, and get them fixed. Start small, and build momentum. Get the facility in shape, fix the tools, clean up the place, up-grade the equipment if you need to. Nobody likes working in a dump. Get your folks to work on time, in the right uniform, motivated, and then train them. Empower them to make decisions and let them lead at their level.

Finally, be bold. I can’t stand commanders who are afraid to command. The Air Force put you in charge, so get busy leading your unit. Sometimes being bold means taking risks in order to move the chains. To be clear, if you are 1) aggressive about getting your mission done, 2) taking care of the Airmen in your charge, and 3) being a faithful steward of the resources you’ve been given, what more guidance do you need?

Squadrons are the foundation of the Air Force…if the squadrons fail, the Air Force will fail. We all succeed when we are led by bold, innovative and disciplined leaders who are moving the chains for our organizations. Do not let perfection be the enemy of progress in this endeavor. Now…show us how it’s done.