Commander lauds base’s ‘extraordinary’ accomplishments

In quarterly call, Airmen praised for character, competence

Col. Patrick Miller and 88th Air Base Wing leadership held a virtual commander’s call April 29 to celebrate how Airmen across Wright-Patterson Air Force Base have exemplified core values in and out of uniform.

The 88 ABW and installation commander began the call by recognizing team members who quietly aligned their actions with qualities the wing seeks to embody, from off-duty Wright-Patt medics who saved local lives and a litigation expert lending her expertise across the Air Force to the medical team administering almost 22,000 vaccines and the 88th Operations Support Squadron making way for a C-47′s smooth landing on Area B.

“One of the things I always like to do is talk about the amazing things that you’re accomplishing each and every day,” Miller said. “You hear me talk often about character and competence and how important that is to being an Airman. When these two attributes collide with an occurrence, we see ‘extraordinary’ happen. And we saw a few of those events over this past quarter.”

Thanks to the medical team’s diligence, vaccine supply no longer stands in the way of base community members who decide the preventive measure is right for them, Miller noted.

“We’ve done so well that vaccines are no longer the limiting factor here at Wright-Patt; it’s demand,” he said. “And so if you want a vaccine, we have vaccines to give to you.”

Wright-Patterson Medical Center will set up its vaccination pod every Monday and Tuesday at the Wright-Patterson Club, as well as May 1 from 9 a.m. to noon.

In other base news, Miller said personnel and residents can expect “lights out” in the fall as the 88th Civil Engineer Group plans an energy resiliency and readiness exercise to practice delivering services if the power shuts down.

Gregory Leingang, 88 ABW vice director, emphasized how Wright-Patt instills the significance of an Airman’s values from the moment civilian personnel take the oath. On April 26, he administered the oath of office to new public servants representing 20 organizations across Wright-Patterson AFB.

“We’ll continue to elevate and highlight the oath because it represents the moment in time when a civilian becomes a professional servant of this great nation,” Leingang said.

Leingang also summarized other opportunities and initiatives on base, such as new ways to collaborate with local school districts for aviation education, progress setting up a Diversity and Inclusion Office and a tactical leadership course for mid-level civilian employees.

Chief Master Sgt. Jason Shaffer, 88 ABW command chief, highlighted events especially relevant to active-duty Airmen’s readiness, culture and development. He reminded the team that the Air Force will resume fitness testing July 1.

“You’re probably getting tired of me saying it: Stay ready, don’t get ready,” Shaffer said. “Start getting after it. The next time we have an All Call, we’re going to talk about how we just tested, so let’s see those scores.”

As Shaffer approaches 10 months of service at WPAFB and Miller hits his one-year mark, the command chief asked personnel for feedback on leadership initiatives.

“You know our values, what we find important,” Shaffer said. “We want to know if that’s helping and working. And we need your feedback to keep moving forward. At the end of the day, we want to be better tomorrow than we are today.”

Miller and the 88 ABW “top four” continue to host quarterly live commander’s calls via Microsoft CVR Teams, staying connected across the wing without putting health at risk. Thursday marked Miller’s fourth since taking command.

Closing out the call, Miller announced numerous quarterly award winners and recognized Airmen for nominations, event leadership, inspiring acts, years of service, recent promotions and other various achievements.

“The ‘top four’ are humbled to serve with you and for you each and every day,” Miller said. “Thanks for what you’re doing. Thanks for being part of this team. Next quarter, I can’t wait to see who’s next.”

Keep an eye out for a full list of award winners in the May 7 issue of the Skywrighter and on Facebook @wpafb.

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