Rapid Ascent: Airmanship, The Bedrock of Airpower Published July 25, 2024 By Lt. Col. Donald Seablom Wild Blue Yonder--Maxwell AFB -- In 1948, the AFM 35-15 Air Force Leadership set out principles and techniques for early Cold War commanders to build cohesive and efficient organization to face the challenges of the post World War II security landscape. Its values are timeless, but it was aimed at an audience familiar with references and examples that no longer reflect the experiences of a 21st century Department of the Air Force. Its preface, by CSAF General Hoyt Vandenburg, insists “leadership techniques must change as the habits and thinking of the people comprising our units change,” so we created an updated resource with our contemporary context in mind. At the suggestion of Air University leadership, we drew upon the expertise of AU faculty to offer a quick primer on six foundational concepts of the Human Domain. This is the third in a six part series. Mindset. Airmanship is a mindset; a certainty you feel in everything you do. The ideas espoused by teams and flight shed light on it. Airmanship is understanding the value that you bring to a team, the willingness to work hard towards a common goal, and a passion for continued improvement. In simple terms, airmanship can be understood as knowing how to function as a team member. Importantly, airmanship does not come automatically. It demands commitment to improvement, diligence to remain sharp, and vigilance to guard against decline. Airmanship is also grounded in the U.S. Air Force core values of integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all that we do. The collective pursuit of airmanship across the force is the bedrock of air power. Understanding the historical origins of airmanship reveals an inspirational strand of Air Force heritage. Historical Roots. Airmanship has two broad meanings. The first relates to aerial flight, and acknowledges the skills required to fly and navigate an aircraft. For obvious reasons, this skillset was crucial for the Airmen who took to the skies in the dangerous aircraft of the early twentieth century. Because the physical act of powered flight itself was so demanding and fraught with risk, early Airmen developed disciplined approaches to their craft, actively pursued detailed knowledge related to flying their aircraft, effectively weighed risk and reward, and mentally prepared to deal with unforeseeable and unknown circumstances in the air. They developed ways to communicate with their fellow Airmen and fostered an environment of critical feedback. Airmen nurtured a faith that they could change warfare for the better and sought opportunities to prove it. These first Airmen faced a combat environment that had nuanced differences from their warfighting peers at sea and on the ground. Accordingly, Airmen adopted a tailored mindset to meet the demands of the air. As it turned out, the same mentality was applicable to the entire Air Force. There should never be an individual so dug into their work or stove piped that they can’t turn things over to a decent fill-in for a week or two. As the lead of a section, I worked hard to develop a continuity binder for my position early upon my arrival, as one did not exist when I took the position. A few months later, my mother died suddenly and unexpectedly. Because my family has two businesses, both of which she owned, I was forced to go back and figure out how everything ran and how to take it over. It took me 45 days of leave to get to a point where I was comfortable to leave the business and other items to return to work. During this time, my position was handled by a fill-in, and I was able to focus on what I needed to. This is how it needs to be in most organizations. No one should be truly irreplaceable. --SMSgt. Ian Perry Modern Interpretation. A second understanding of airmanship applies to all Airmen in the U.S. Air Force. This mentality builds on the physical, mental, and organizational challenges of flying an airplane, and extends the ideas into the mental framework that integrates the Air Force’s core values with mission accomplishment. The following discussion of airmanship folds the core values—integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do—of the Air Force into the components of airmanship, thereby aligning values with competence. The incorporation of fundamental ideals into the traditional understanding of airmanship is not new—the Air Force formally established the core values in 1995—but the aspirational nature of the values demands frequent engagement by all Airmen. We face an unknown future but can trust that the values of airmanship and the teamwork mentality they build upon can guide our force through ambiguous situations. Airmanship Components. A disciplined approach to an Airman’s tasks develops the necessary skills that enable high levels of proficiency. An Airman’s own abilities coalesce with knowledge of equipment capabilities, team strengths and weaknesses, an understanding of the operating environment, and an ability to recognize, assess, and weigh risks. Together, these five pillars of knowledge lead to situational awareness and sound judgment in ambiguous situations. These components speak directly to the core skills that team members must develop to assist the Air Force. For all the talk about innovation, it is imperative to understand that a fundamental enabler of air power is discipline. Discipline must come before change. Without a disciplined approach to task accomplishment, it is impossible to generate consistent, repeatable results, from which adaptation can occur. Thus, routine is paramount. The concept of discipline is easily understood from the culture of checklists early aviators developed to eliminate avoidable mistakes as they piloted their airplanes. Flight operations are simply too high-risk to rely on memory alone. The same practice made its way into such arenas as aircraft maintenance, and Airmen now carry out maintenance actions with technical orders which specifically dictate how to proceed with a repair. Checklists carry with them little glitz and glamor, but the discipline that they promote is invaluable. Discipline provided by external and institutional procedure has a vital complement in the cultivation of internal habits of mind by an Airman who is knowledgeable, conscientious, and alert to problems and opportunities. Training, training, training! The more someone knows what they are doing, the more at ease they become. Naturally, people want to do a good job, but if they don’t really know what they are doing, then they won’t have confidence the next time the task comes around. We work in a repetitive environment, and if we don’t take the time to really teach our people how to do the job…and sometimes the why ….then they will consistently be on edge not knowing what to do. Additionally, being welcomed to the team and being included plays a huge role in morale. Most people join the Profession of Arms to be part of something bigger than themselves and to have the comradery with their teammates. --Senior NCO Over time, as Airmen maintain a disciplined approach to their tasks, they attain new skills and knowledge. Some skills are rather easy for Airmen to demonstrate proficiency in. Just because they are easy to learn, however, does not discount their importance. The success of a sports team hinges as much on the simple act of catching a ball as it does on the most complex executions that require vast coordinated efforts. Everything is based on the fundamental abilities to repeat common tasks. Skilled Airmen come to understand what the most critical steps in their processes are, and value all skills equally, constantly honing their ability to execute with precision and rapidity. This is the essence of the core value of excellence in all we do. The most important skill that all Airmen can develop, applicable to the entire force, is the ability to communicate clearly. Just as pilots developed procedures for communicating with other Airmen with brevity and focus, Airmen today must communicate about virtually every task they undertake. When other team members are aware of task completion, or even more importantly, a challenge that prevents task completion, they can adjust their own actions accordingly, and assist if necessary. Communication builds a collective understanding among multiple small teams of Airmen about how well the team is performing. As Airmen embrace a disciplined approach to their tasks, inquisitive minds will recognize how their roles fit into the overall efforts, just as players on a sports team understand and value each contribution. They earn the trust of their teammates, and all can more aggressively pursue their own tasks without concerns that others will fail. No matter what the role is, exceptional performance at any position bolsters the ability of the team. It simultaneously instills confidence that the performing Airmen will be able to accomplish a given task and serves as an exemplar for Airmen who are still learning. It is important to note that while each Airman has a specific role to play within an organization, there is no limit to what Airmen can accomplish when they embrace the opportunity to learn other jobs and contribute to the airpower mission in non-career field specific ways. Airmanship involves a dedication to understanding how your actions generate air power. Sometimes these results are obvious, such as loading a weapon into an aircraft. Other times, the work seems more distant, such as an Airman approving a contract for future research. Airmanship recognizes that the role of every Airman is crucial to the generation of air power. You set the tone of the organization within the command team on day one by your words and deeds. Your actions and interactions with the organization are observable indicators of who you are as a leader. You can also set the tone by sharing a first day commanders brief and by providing your leadership philosophy in writing. That will be something tangible the organization can refer to, and actions will be observed to determine if they match what you say. You must maintain your tone by being consistent and ensuring that others who speak on your behalf or use your name to accomplish a task to not alter your tone. Others can change your tone by cutting corners with comments like, “the CG wants it done now and she does not care how you do it” to speed a task along. It is very important to constantly remind the team to guard against this, otherwise your tone may take on an edge that you do not recognize or condone. You will be judged by the priorities you set and the methods you use to achieve them. If you set an ethical, professional tone, others will follow. If there is a perception that you believe standards and rules are easily bent or disregarded, those you lead will infer that it is OK to them to behave in that manner as well; rationalizing using unethical means as long as they are trying to support the commander’s priorities.-– LTG (ret.) Nadja West This overall imperative that all Airmen pursue excellence and can be counted on to act with integrity is a great force multiplier. When Airmen can trust other Airmen, it unlocks the vast potential of mission type orders— direction given that offers subordinate organizations the option of choosing the most effective actions towards mission accomplishment. Mission Command. In future conflict, there is a probability that centralized control of air power as the Air Force currently wields it will not be possible. Situations may be too volatile to issue more than general requirements to subordinate air power leaders. These scenarios may involve actions that senior leaders and staffs cannot develop plans for— leaving those choices to those executing the missions. Only when Airmen possess all the elements of Airmanship are they capable of effectively capitalizing on the opportunities presented by mission command. On the surface, the rigorous requirements of discipline and specific expectations of Airmen might seem to detract from their ability to operate without controlling guidance. On the contrary, the grounded knowledge and situational awareness that high-performing Airmen possess are the exact characteristics that allow leaders to issue mission type orders. Leaders can trust that the Airmen are solidly grounded in their core tasks, and that they will operate in accordance with the Air Force core values. Only if Airmen have proven they can operate ethically, morally, and tactically soundly can they be trusted to operate in the absence of specific orders. One of the best leaders I ever worked with was CMSgt (ret) Nathan Turner who still to this day is my mentor. He was an MSG Chief at the time and was my very first dental patient. I was an Airman Basic, he was a Chief, and I was terrified. He introduced himself then asked me if I knew the Air Force Priorities. I had no clue. He said why would you come to work every day for an organization when you don’t know what’s important to them? He planted a seed right then that has served me through my career…. what are we working for, what’s important, and what can we take risks on? He talked to me about the Air Force priorities and connected the dots on how I, as a brand-new Dental Assistant, played into them. He was like that with everyone, always sharing strategic level knowledge but making it relevant.-– SMSgt Ashley T. Strong Senior NCO The acquisition and maintenance of airmanship across the DAF is imperative to our overall ability to project air power in peacetime and in conflict. Airmanship rests on knowledge generated by discipline, high-level execution of tasks by every team-member, and a desire to understand the bigger picture. When Airmen understand how their actions fit into the bigger picture, it empowers leaders to trust them with leeway in mission accomplishment and unlocks the potential of mission command. Lt Col Donald “Donny” Seablom is a cyber operations officer serving as an assistant professor in the Department of Air Power at the Air Command and Staff College (ACSC). He has served the bulk of his operational career in Special Tactics support roles at Hurlburt Field, Florida, and Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he commanded the 724th Special Tactics Support Squadron. He has deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Djibouti, and was the 8th Mission Support Group Deputy Commander at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea. Lt Col Seablom received a Bachelor of Science in Military History from the United States Air Force Academy in 2003, a Masters of Military Operational Art and Science from ACSC in 2016, and a PhD in history from the University of Wisconsin in 2023. Textbox quotes from individual Air Force personnel collected and edited by Dr. Paul J. Springer as part of his study of leadership during the tenure of General David L. Goldfein. Many thanks to the volunteer participants whose comments and experiences helped to shape the contours of this project: Air University’s ACTS “Disciples” Lt. Col. Lyndsey Banks, CMSgt Jason Blair, TSgt Zachary Bennett, Col. Stephanie Boger, Lt. Col. Jose Crespo, Lt. Col. Christy Cruz Peeler, Col. Jerry Davisson, MSgt Ashley Evans, Lt. Col. Mitchell Foy, Maj. Ray Funke, CMSgt Steven Hart, Dr. Robert Hinck, Dr. John Hinck, CMSgt Joshua Lackey, Mr. Mark Logan, Lt. Col. William Mendel, Capt. Denny Miller, Ms. Rhonda Miller, TSgt Israel Navarro, Lt. Col. Amber Ortiz, SMSgt Joshua Penery, Lt. Col. Don Salvatore, Col. Eltressa Spencer, Dr. Susan Steen and the AY24 AU Resilience Research Task Force, Maj. Jonathan Tolman