RCAF family advocate visits Luke AFB

News Article / February 14, 2019

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Lieutenant-General Al Meinzinger, commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force, has said that one of his four anchor points for the RCAF is “people”.

“I know that successful delivery of air and space power relies on well-led, robust, healthy and inclusive squadrons and tactical units and, unquestionably, our resilient personnel – and their families – are the lifeblood of the RCAF,” he said at the 2 Canadian Air Division change of command ceremony in August 2018. “Our personnel are clearly the foundation upon which our other anchor points are built, and you are, as you know, our most critical and important resource.”

The RCAF’s family advocate, Colonel Heather Thorne-Albright, recently visited Luke Air Force Base in Arizona to learn more about how the United States Air Force is tackling support to its members and families, and to bring those lessons learned back to Canada.

By Senior Airman Caleb Worpel, USAF

As the largest fighter wing in the world, Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, US, often has the responsibility of sharing important practices and methods stemming from the innovation of its personnel – both military and civilian.

Since the chief of staff of the United States Air Force, General David Goldfein, announced his initiative to revitalize squadrons, an assigned task force has been visiting bases and producing visible changes as part of an implementation plan.

According to the findings in the implementation plan, USAF Colonel Russell Williford, director of the Revitalizing Squadrons Task Force, said there are three key attributes to a successful squadron: verifiable mission success, purposeful leadership, and esprit de corps.

These key attributes are being implemented via three lines of effort: focus on the mission, strengthen leadership and culture, and take care of air personnel and their families.

The task force, and Colonel Heather Thorne-Albright, the Royal Canadian Air Force family advocate, visited Luke AFB on January 17, 2019, to promote practices and identify improvements, specifically taking care of air personnel and famliies. The plan includes helping squadrons better support air personnel and families by building on their resilience, and strengthening family support programs and community connections.

“Our countries are not that different in the challenges they face in terms of retention, recruiting, and trying to find the proper work-life balance for our people,” Colonel Thorne-Albright said. “Luke has so many great ideas and people doing outstanding work in these community engagement and family support areas that they have here in their community. We hope to go back and see which of these ideas we can borrow to help our men and women and their families back in the RCAF.”

Colonel Thorne-Albright spent the day touring Luke with the task force to learn from and help improve similar programs in the RCAF.

“Luke is well-known for many different things,” Colonel Williford said. “The reputation of Luke across the Air Force is one that does community engagement and taking care of their people very well. The amount of community engagement and the Community Initiatives Team in particular is something that is unique to Luke. These programs have the ability to show what close community ties and ongoing communications can do in an area that has a dense population and a very important mission.”

The policy implementation process was adapted for specific reasons. “One of the best parts was that this isn’t just out-of-the-box thinking,” Colonel Thorne-Albright added. “This is a methodical approach with concrete surveys and data analysis. There wasn’t an expectation that we can change everything tomorrow. Instead of a band-aid fix, Luke has taken the time to get the data and do the homework, and is completely invested and highly motivated to make these community programs successful.”

Increasing pressures of urban development are a high priority on Luke leaders' list of concerns. Luke is one of the few USAF installations that has a dedicated office and staff, the Community Initiatives Team, to foster direct communication channels and build positive relationships with local authorities, community members and elected officials.

“Our trip to Luke was to initiate a dialogue with the wing and the folks who are performing these really important missions,” Colonel Williford said. “Coming here was a learning aspect to understand, with allies, how we can share practices affecting these programs. For our team in particular, seeing the best practices which Luke is performing in person, helps us use them to facilitate across the entire Air Force.”

He explained that Luke holds a robust status across the US Air Force for the programs it has in place to continually improve the partnerships for air personnel and their families.

Senior Airman Caleb Worpel serves with 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs, US Air Force. This article is translated and reproduced with the permission of the chief of public affairs, 56th Fighter Wing, Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, US.