Third Air Force commander flies with Liberty Airmen

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. David Dobrydney
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  Lt. Gen. Frank Gorenc, 3rd Air Force commander, paid a visit to the 48th Fighter Wing Nov. 3 to visit Airmen and implore them to keep up their good work.

"Over the time that I've been the Third Air Force commander you all have been operating at an unbelievably high level of performance," he said.

"I am absolutely, unbelievably proud of what the 48th Fighter Wing has contributed to the Global War On Terror and operations worldwide. Every time the 48th Fighter Wing is involved, they deliver."

While here the general received a flight in an F-15D Eagle.

"You don't know how thrilled I am to be here," Gorenc said as he arrived at the 493rd Fighter Squadron for his flight.

Before he could take off, however, he needed to receive his flight gear. The Airmen who prepared Gorenc's equipment noted a high-profile visitor means their processes need that to be much more smooth and seamless.

"We've got to be on top of our game and take care of business as quickly as possible," said Staff Sgt. David Sigers, 493rd FS aircrew flight equipment craftsman.

Sigers' attitude is part of what Gorenc wants Airmen to consider when they think about their roles within the wider Air Force.

"Their role is to make sure that whatever job they're doing that they commit themselves to doing it at a very high level," Gorenc said, "and while they're committing themselves to doing the mission, they continue to pursue all of the things that will allow them to operate in leadership roles."

Sigers noted that advice like that is one of the benefits when leaders such as Gorenc come to their shop.

"It's like a one-on-one," said Sigers. "They speak to us about leadership and every so often they'll throw out knowledge you may not have known before."

Among the Airmen the general spoke to was Airman 1st Class Scott Huckins, 48th Fighter Wing knowledge operations manager. Gorenc congratulated Huckins on his recent promotion to airman 1st class. As Gorenc had just spent part of his visit congratulating Airmen who had been selected for promotion to the rank of chief master sergeant, he said it was one more step in Huckins career towards bigger and better things.

"He even asked me 'did you just make chief too?'" Huckins said.

Later, Gorenc shared his thoughts on what Airmen should remember when striving for advancement in their careers.

"The most important thing for people to understand is that our system is a system that is designed to identify people who have the potential to operate at the next grade," he said.

"Promotion is not a function of what the performance was in the past, but potential for the future. So in the end the system rewards people who make decisions on the job, and live with those decisions to get the mission done so they have ultimate mission focus."

Gorenc also said that while Airmen should have mission focus, they must keep their peers and subordinates in mind as well.

"The bottom line is we're in the business of building leaders for the future," Gorenc said.