Commentary: Work hard, take time to recharge Published Jan. 10, 2011 By Col. Eric S. Overturf 442nd Fighter Wing commander WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. -- Happy New Year! I hope you and your families had a great holiday season and enjoyed some well-deserved time off. I want to thank all of you for the warm welcome, and I'm looking forward to introducing you to my wife, Karla, when she arrives in January. My first month here was dedicated to learning about the mission and more importantly the people of the mighty 442nd Fighter Wing. I also spent the last part of the month enjoying some vacation time in the sun with my family. That pretty much sums up the way you can expect me to spend every month as your commander: Working on our mission, getting out to see and to meet our people, and spending dedicated time with my family. I'm here first and foremost because I believe in the importance of what Citizen Airmen do: Caring for their families and balancing civilian careers with their military pledge to answer our nation's call when we are needed. I spend a lot of time out visiting people because I think it's the best way to find out what I can do to help them do their jobs, and it's a great way to get unvarnished feedback on how I'm doing my job. Finally, I work hard, but then I take time to unwind, recharge, work out, and enjoy life with my family and friends. Spending time with my family brings me right back to the mission. I truly believe that in the long term, raising the next generation of great Americans is the most important thing we can do. That will keep our nation strong and ensure that the mission will still get done after we've moved on to that perfect fishing spot, deer blind or golf course waiting for us in retirement. During the first few weeks I've been here, I've had a chance to see most of our facilities and meet some of our people. I've been struck by the depth of experience here. I met many people who have been in the 442nd FW for their entire military careers, and some had second-generation family members following in their footsteps. I've seen the patriotism and pride of workmanship that I expected to find here in America's heartland, and the technical expertise that makes this the most respected A-10 unit in the Air Force. I've also noticed that people are showing the stress of the constant cycle of inspection prep that we've been through for the last couple of years and the increased operations tempo that's gone along with it. Mostly, I've been humbled by the quality of our people who have stepped up to answer our nation's call from providing close air support for coalition troops in Afghanistan to expeditionary tasking around the world like our security forces Airmen did when I was there with them in Iraq in 2009. As I reflect on what I've learned about the wing, I'm looking forward to what we will accomplish in the upcoming year. Our priorities for the upcoming year are straightforward: Completing an outstanding phase-one operational readiness inspection Building the biggest and best fighter wing in the AF Reserve Preparing for 2011 unit-compliance and health-services inspections Caring for our Airmen and their families Or first major hurdle is the phase-one ORI. We need to take on and conquer whatever challenges the inspector general team throws at us. I know this is frustrating for a wing that has proven again and again that we can generate and deploy effectively and efficiently for real-world combat missions. Unfortunately, the wing's exceptional past performance doesn't factor into our ORI grade, so we'll take on the phase-one challenge, kick its butt and get back to our focus on real-world combat operations where you've proven time and time again that the 442nd Fighter Wing shines. While we prepare for the ORI, the wing will also be bringing our new geographically separated units (GSUs) in Louisiana and Arizona into our wing structure and daily battle rhythm. The 476th Fighter Group is already up and running at Moody AFB, Ga., and we will continue to support the 610th Information Operations Flight at Offutt AFB, Neb. The 917th Fighter Group will be formally activated next month at Barksdale AFB, La., and the 924th Fighter Group at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. is hiring people and contributing to the A-10 training mission there. When it's all said and done, the 442nd FW will be the biggest and best Fighter Wing in the Air Force Reserve. We'll also begin preparation for the unit-compliance and health-services inspections that will evaluate our processes in 2012, starting with a rigorous look at our self-inspection checklists beginning later in the year. Most importantly, we will balance these mission requirements with the needs of our civilian employers, our families and our personal development and time off for leisure activities. The 442nd Fighter Wing is known throughout the Air Force Reserve as a great place to live, work and raise a family, and I want to bolster that reputation during my tenure as the commander. I know it's a lot to do, but I also know it can be done with the outstanding people I've already met during my first month on the job. We'll remember that we're in this for the long run - we have much to do, but we will get it done one step at a time, at a pace that will sustain and retain our most important resource: You and your families! Thanks for all the amazing things you did in 2010, and here's to even greater things in 2011!