Carry message first – then we can talk Published July 7, 2011 By Lt. Col. Thom Adkins 818th Mobility Support Advisory Squadron commander JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- I regularly read Elbert Hubbard's short story, "A Message to Garcia" and strongly recommend it to others. The hero is a young lieutenant by the name of Andrew Rowan, who served in the U.S. Army during the Spanish-American War. The lieutenant was asked to deliver a message to the leader of the revolutionary forces, Gen. Garcia. The information is assumed to be of such importance that it would have rushed the revolutionary forces to victory. However, within the story, there is no play-by-play description, no action-packed war story deep in Cuban enemy territory that grabs the reader and makes a profound impact. Actually, Hubbard makes little mention of "how," nor shares any detail of the techniques Rowan used to deliver the message to Garcia. That is exactly his point. Rowen was given a mission to deliver the message. He did not ask who Garcia was, where he was or how he should accomplish the mission. He just did it. The tale is about taking the initiative and just plain figuring it out. A little more than two months ago, I was given the tremendous privilege of becoming the first commander of the newly-activated 818th Mobility Support Advisory Squadron. Unlike a typical change of command - out with the old commander, in with the new - there was no old commander. On top of that, we have a new Air Mobility Command mission. Our unique squadron is one of only two of its kind in the Air Force and was activated to support the Air Force's core function of building partnerships. The experts in the 818th MSAS are tasked with assessing, assisting, training and advising partner nations in building their air mobility capacity. How are we going accomplish this you might ask? Follow the regulations, look it up in the book and accomplish the training plan ... right? We would if they existed. We have only one mandate - deliver the message. Stop and think about a typical day at work. Pilots fly aircraft following specific procedures and checklists. Maintainers would not dare sign off on a repair without referencing a job card and technical order guidance. Medical personnel go through years of specialized training to care for our Airmen and their family members. Even within our contingency response wings, the disciplined and versatile CRG warriors - mobility Airmen - are specially trained with tested procedures to operate as a cohesive team - ready to mobilize the fight, provide relief and advance the peace. We confidently believe our military is the world's most elite, trained to follow guidance and procedures. And they should. But imagine if you were presented with a situation that falls outside of the norm, without guidance, or you were asked to do a task not in your "comfort zone." What would you respond? Would you ask "why?" or "how?", or would you simply make sure the message was delivered? The MSAS will be comprised of more than 20 different Air Force specialty codes. As we grow, most of these career fields are represented by only a single Airman. Each one must be an expert in their own right. Each one of them has been asked to deliver the message. As we build something new and amazing from nothing but enthusiasm, personal experience and determination; our challenge is to help create those tactics, techniques and procedures that will allow many skills to weave together and form the best possible air advising team. So when I am asked a question from a squadron member about how or what our new team should look like, or how we need to accomplish a task that we have not even written the book for yet, I gently remind them to carry the message to Garcia first - then we can talk about it.