The head of Air Combat Command was not exempt from the order he issued last month directing inspections for tens of thousands of ACC Airmen to ensure they’re dress and personal appearance meets Air Force standards. On July 9, he said, he endured his first “open ranks” inspection since college.
“The headquarters at Air Combat Command lined up in the parking lot, I was leading the formation, and I got inspected myself,” Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach said July 10, during a visit to AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. “It was the first inspection I’ve had since I was in ROTC. That was a long time ago.”
Wilsbach’s order called out “a discernable decline in the commitment to, and enforcement of, military standards,” generating consternation and pushback from some Airmen. But the ACC commander said standards are essential, and enforcement is necessary to prepare the force for potential peer conflict with the likes of China.
“One of the things that we started with very early in my command is an emphasis on standards and discipline,” said Wilsbach, who took command of ACC in February. “There’s been a bit of controversy, but mostly it’s been positive in that regard.”
Steeling the force to win in battle is like girding a championship football team to win on the field. The players must meet a standard, and learn to expect their teammates to meet those standards too. The NFL Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs didn’t achieve their win on chance alone. They needed to face and overcome tough situations first.
“That’s what I’m talking about with taking care of Airmen; making them strong, making them resilient,” Wilsbach said. “Because if we do end up having to have this fight, the American people are going to expect for the Airmen of this country to do some horrifically difficult things. And if they’re not resilient, and if they’re not strong, they won’t be able to do it. So we’re going to plan on doing hard things together and we’re going to give opportunities to fail. And then leaders are going to coach and mentor.”
While some Airmen argue that open-ranks inspections are “wasting time,” Wilsbach countered that doing little things well is preparation for doing bigger, harder things well.
“What I learned many years ago is if you pay attention to the details, when it gets hard and you need to do something difficult, because you’ve been disciplined to pay attention to the details, you can be good and you can succeed,” he said.
ACC units have until July 17 to complete unit-level standards and compliance inspections, Wilsbach said.
“What I told the team there after we finished our inspection was that I hope that the captains and lieutenants and the staff sergeants will embrace this, and they’ll make it [part of] their day-to-day operation,” Wilsbach said. “Because frankly, the commander of Air Combat Command doesn’t really have time to be making sure that people have boots that are clean and uniforms that look good and a haircut, etc. Those are things that other people can do. They need me, and the nation needs me to do things that only the commander can do. And so I asked the youngsters to take this on and to police themselves up and to give everybody feedback.”
As part of that trust, Wilsbach said Airmen will be empowered to enforce standards with their peers, subordinates—and even their bosses.
“If we police ourselves, we won’t have to worry about this, but we’ll be paying attention to the details and it will allow us to have discipline to do some very difficult things,” he said.
In addition to open ranks, Wilsbach also said ACC will conduct inspections to see how well units accomplish their missions.
“We’re going to get out there and we’re going to say, ‘Hey, you’re having an inspection today,'” he said. “You generate, you deploy, you employ and you redeploy. And that’s what you’re going to get inspected on.”