From: Commanding Officer, Marine Attack Squadron 211
To: Squadron Attack Pilots
Subj: COMMANDER’S GUIDANCE FOR SQUADRON ATTACK PILOTS
1. Professional hunger.
My goal is to identify those Officers who want to be professional
attack pilots and dedicate the resources required to build them into the
flight leaders and instructors that are required for the long-term
health of our community. This is not a socialist organization. We will
not all be equal in terms of quals and flight hours. Some will advance
faster than others, and because this is not a union, your rate of
advancement will have nothing to do with seniority. Your rate of
advancement will instead be determined by your hunger, professionalism,
work ethic, and performance.
If flying jets and supporting Marines is your passion and your profession, you are in the right squadron.
If these things are viewed simply as your job, please understand that
I must invest for the future in others. Your time in a gun squadron
might be limited, so it is up to you to make the most of the
opportunities that are presented.
2. Professional focus.
Our approach to aviation is based upon the absolute requirement to be “brilliant in the basics.”
Over the last few years Marine TACAIR has not punted the tactical
nearly so often as the admin. Sound understanding of NATOPS, aircraft
systems, and SOPs is therefore every bit as important as your
understanding of the ANTTP and TOPGUN. With this in mind, ensure the
admin portions of your plan are solid before you move onto objective
area planning. Once you begin tactical planning, remember that keeping
things “simple and easy to execute” will usually be your surest path to
success. If the plan is not safe, it is not tactically sound.
3. Attitude.
I firmly believe in the phrase “hire for attitude, train for skill.”
Work ethic, willingness to accept constructive criticism, and a
professional approach to planning, briefing, and debriefing will get you
90% of the way towards any qualification or certification you are
pursuing. The other 10% is comprised of in-flight judgment and
performance, and that will often come as a result of the first 90%. Seek
to learn from your own mistakes and the mistakes of others. Just as a
championship football team debriefs their game film, we are going to
analyze our tapes and conduct thorough flight debriefs. It has often
been said that the success of a sortie is directly proportional to the
caliber of the plan and brief. The other side of this coin is that the
amount of learning that takes place as a result of a sortie is directly
proportional to the caliber of the debrief.
4. Moral courage.
Speak up if something seems wrong or unsafe.
We all know what the standards are supposed to be in Naval Aviation
and in the Corps. Enforce them! When we fail to enforce the existing
standards, we are actually setting and enforcing a new standard that is
lower.
5. Dedication.
If you average one hour per workday studying, 6 months from now you
will be brilliant. That is all it takes; one hour per day. As you start
to notice the difference between yourself and those who are unable to
find 60 minutes, I want you to know that I will have already taken note.
Then, I want you to ask yourself this question: “How good could I be if I really gave this my all?”
6. When all else fades away, attack pilots have one mission: provide offensive air support for Marines.
The Harrier community needs professional attack pilots who can meet this calling.
It does not require you to abandon your family. It does not require
you to work 16 hours per day, six days per week. It requires only a few
simple commitments to meet this calling: be efficient with your time at
work so that you can study one hour per day; be fully prepared for your
sorties and get the maximum learning possible out of every debrief; have
thick skin and be willing to take constructive criticism; find one
weekend per month to go on cross country. When you are given the
opportunity to advance, for those few days go to the mat and give it
your all, 100%, at the expense of every other thing in your life.
To quote Roger Staubach, “there are no traffic jams on the extra mile.” ((But I hope to see you there from time to time)).
If you can be efficient during the workweek, give an Olympian effort
for check rides and certifications, and are a team player, the sky will
literally be the limit for you in this squadron.
C. K. RAIBLE
MORE about Lt Colonel Raible in a future post. Is he a MOH candidate? Perhaps he should be.
There is something to be said for being aggressive, technically and tactically proficient and professional. And yes, the 'Profession of Arms' -- Army, Navy, Air Force & Marines is not a job and should not be regarded as nor approached as one.
ReplyDeleteCompare and contrast this direct, thoroughly military communication style with the popular, bastardized corporatist theory that float around military circles. Who would you rather follow? A hard fought marketing campaign should not be confused with war.
ReplyDeleteJames Hammersla,
ReplyDeleteWhen we signed up to protect and defend the Constitution against all enemy’s foreign and domestic there was no specified degree as to how much effort one should provide for that protection and defense, if you did not provide your maximum in that effort you were letting someone down, it may have been a Gun Captain, a Second Loader, a Gunnery Officer or the Commanding Officer and your actions could have led to defeat rather than victory.
As you stated it is not a job, it is a desire to provide your best effort for your Command and your Shipmates.
Very Respectfully,
Navyman834
Very good! Few take the time to express themselves and their expectations effectively. This is refreshing.
ReplyDeleteI am not an Attack Pilot but this inspires me as a Navy Chief.
Anonymous, Oct. 14 5:56 AM
ReplyDeleteYou do not have to be an Attack Pilot, a Commanding Officer or an Executive Officer, to fulfill the desired attributes that Lt Colonel Raible speaks of, if you are a Navy Chief you have already assumed the position of responsibility and can make a real difference in, focus, attitude, courage and determination spoken of in this post. The pilots would be unable to do the heroic things they are capable of without the ground crew and maintenance technicians doing their best to keep those aircraft flyable.
Respectfully,
E. A. Hughes, FTCM(SS)
US Navy (Ret)
Navyman834
Anonymous, Oct. 14 5:56 AM
ReplyDeleteYou do not have to be an Attack Pilot, a Commanding Officer or an Executive Officer, to fulfill the desired attributes that Lt Colonel Raible speaks of, if you are a Navy Chief you have already assumed the position of responsibility and can make a real difference in, focus, attitude, courage and determination spoken of in this post. The pilots would be unable to do the heroic things they are capable of without the ground crew and maintenance technicians doing their best to keep those aircraft flyable.
Respectfully,
E. A. Hughes, FTCM(SS)
US Navy (Ret)
Navyman834