By Scott Fike, LOA President
Greetings Log Nation!
I am extremely excited, honored and humbled to be just one small part of a phenomenal National LOA leadership team…and more broadly, our National LOA Enterprise! I’m looking forward to serving with each of you and having some fun along the way as we embark on a great 2020 LOA season! I’m surrounded by an awesome National LOA Staff and together we are here to serve each one of you.
What another fantastic National LOA Symposium! It was chocked full of some really awesome and informational presentations. I must say, that seeing the Captains and Majors up on the Symposium stage was for me, simply rejuvenating. And don’t you know that our L-O-A…our Air Force, for that matter, is in really, really good hands with such amazing professionals that attended this year’s event (and also those that remained behind taking care of the solemn business we call warfighting).
So, what lies ahead for our Log Nation? As discussed during the Symposium, we all know there’s certainly no shortage of challenges ranging from worn out aircraft and MC80 to worn out IT systems and Strike Teams. Bring it. From strike teaming, thought leading, sparking, pitching, werx’ing, mobile-app’ing, sprinting, scrumming — and of course a little disrupting, rebelling and troublemaking i.e., “TESSERACT-ing” – point being, there’s an abundance of ways in which to tap into and persistently harness and leverage our collective Log Nation energies and synergies – together with our industry partners, academia colleagues, sister services, and others. Point being…there’s an abundance of ways to get after the challenges!
tesseract noun
tes·ser·act | \ ˈte-sə-ˌrakt \
Definition of tesseract
: the four-dimensional analogue of a cube
: First known use, 1888
tesseracting verb
tes·ser·act·ing | \ ˈte-sə-ˌraktˌing \
Definition of tesseracting
: using a four-dimensional analogue of a cube for change aka Thought Leader/Innovator/Rebel/
: a team of Airmen to target, fix, and launch new culture, processes and technology for the logistics and sustainment enterprise
: First known use, 11 Oct 2019, Scott Fike
And speaking of harnessing, as we all know, we have 80+ LOA chapters that in their own right can be Log Nation spark tanks — or think tanks – or hey, how about internationally-dispersed TESSERACT labs. Case in point, we witnessed our inaugural A4-sponsored Think Tank out briefs on stage this year at the 2019 LOA Symposium. Good stuff! And, with continued Senior Leader and O-6 (or equivalent) Chapter Advisor enthusiasm and support, what another great way to professionally develop our up and coming Log Nation leaders…by innovating – sparking – thinking – TESSERACT-ing, and more.
So, we know that developing and sustaining both our human capital and our weapons systems is of course not a quick or easy endeavor but a key component to doing so — as we focused on and experienced during the Symposium — is the professional development and relationship-building amongst and within our Log Nation community, our LOA community and oh by the way, of course our AOA community. Friendships and relationships that will prove pivotal in identifying and solving – together, collaboratively – a myriad of challenging issues – again, from worn out aircraft fleets, IT systems, workplace proficiency, and more.
As we close out 2019 and usher in 2020, I’d ask that we take on this “challenge.” And that is…amongst all the sparking, thought leading and oh…generating a sortie or two, would you Tap someone on the Shoulder and ask if they’d like to get in on this good thing – this thing we call L-O-A! And let’s not forget…Shoulders come in all sizes, shapes and forms, right? Active duty shoulders, Civil Service shoulders, Guard and Reserve shoulders, Academia shoulders, Industry shoulders.
So, why Tap? When we grow, we prosper. When we prosper, we excite. When we excite, we explode. When we explode (a contagious explosion), there’s nothing to stop us… we grow…we mentor more, learn more, outreach more, problem-solve more, listen and help others more (and we really need to do that with respect to “inflection points & resilience”), thought lead more, spark more, innovate more, think more, TESSERACT more…, well, the list goes on! So let’s not cheat anybody out of the opportunity to say yes – to say yes to L-O-A – yes to A-O-A, and when we convene in Salt Lake City next year, this phenomenal National LOA organization will be busting at the seams from continued, contagious explosive growth.
Tap a Shoulder! Let’s Go — Let’s Grow — Let’s Get After It!
Thanks Log Nation!