Wing commander addresses Airmen, sets expectations

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jesse Lopez
  • 97th AMW/PA
8/5/2013 - ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- --  After recently taking command of Altus AFB, Col. Bill Spangenthal, 97th Air Mobility Wing commander, held his first commander's call, Aug. 5, at the base theater.

Colonel Spangenthal stood before a full audience to outline his expectations and hot topics circling through the base as well as the Air Force. He opened by setting the foundation of his vision for the wing.

"I'm going to talk to you about mission, airmen and family. These are the things that are important to me. These are my priorities," Colonel Spangenthal said.

Prior to keying in on issues, Colonel Spangenthal discussed what it means to unify as a total force comprised of reserve, active duty and civilian personnel using his three priorities as its pillars to reach mission effectiveness.

"These are the building blocks for success. If we get our families' needs right, we get our Airmen right and the Airmen are the ones who accomplish the mission, a mission that cannot fail - forging combat mobility forces, deploying Airmen warriors," he said.

Colonel Spangenthal shared a few details about his life and career, highlighting that he was the son of a Senior Master Sergeant, lessons learned through diversity and service members holding each other accountable as well as depending on one another like family. The backbone of such values rooted from his acronym P.R.I.D.E. - professionalism, respect, integrity, discipline and enthusiasm. Specifically, members taking pride not only in one's family name but the name on the opposite side of the uniform.

"I have two names on this uniform, one is Spangenthal and the other is United States Air Force," he said. "This is the mighty 97th. That's our family name--take pride in it, don't tarnish it."

He continued speaking about the importance of standing our ground through furloughs, budget issues, and having a cost conscience culture, noting the Mighty 97th as being Air Education and Training Command's "model wing" for the Air Force's new cultural shift.

The wing commander then transitioned into a discussion about the Air Force's recent issues with sexual assault among Airmen, posing the question: How could we let this happen?

"These are our brothers and sisters in this room that we're sworn to take care of, stand up for, fight for, protect the name, protect each other--but we let this happen?" he asked. "I need everyone in this room to put an end to this."

After expressing his views on the importance of mutual respect among Airmen, Colonel Spangenthal solidified his priorities of mission, airmen, family once more, and emphasized his excitement for a successful future.

As the audience prepared to stand at attention in conclusion of the commander's call, Colonel Spangenthal made his closing remarks.

"I thank you for your time. What I wanted to do today was just highlight a few of the things that I think are important to me, to you and to our Wing," Colonel Spangenthal said. "Do great things. I'm proud of each and every one of you, I'm proud of the mission and I'm proud of the job we do here. Let's hold our ground during these tough times, and look forward to a bright future."