First Word
Reflections on 2008
Chief of Air Force
By Chief of Air Force, AVM Graham Lintott
As we herald in the Festive Season, we cannot help but turn our thoughts to the quality time we intend spending with our immediate families and friends. We should also spare a thought for our mates who are serving overseas this Christmas and, of course, their families back here at home.
The arrival of the Season also allows us, as the RNZAF family, to reflect on the achievements of this year as well as to identify those things which we may want to do next year.
2008 has seen very good results in every field of RNZAF endeavour; far too many for me to recognise in this short column. Be they operational commitments, capability projects – here and abroad, training, the range of things that we need to do to run our Bases and Air Staff, or volunteer activities that promote the wellbeing of our communities, the one enduring theme that still prevails is that the RNZAF is blessed with great people who continue to do extraordinary things.
Since becoming CAF, I have been privileged to regularly receive unsolicited feedback about our people. While this year has been no different, there are two things that stand out. The first is that our people have been noticed, for not only being very professional in the work they do, but also for displaying an acute sense of pride in attending to their various tasks and activities.
The second is that we are becoming comfortable with adopting innovative approaches to our work. While I have been very aware that we have smart people doing smart things in a smart way, the observation about our people having genuine pride in the work they do, reflects a very healthy organisation.
Furthermore, to have some of this feedback from our ‘kaumatua’ – very senior ex-RNZAF personnel – makes these observations even more telling, as this constituency can be very exacting in what they expect of us.
These observations are not confined to our primary duties alone. Given the special time of the year I think that it is appropriate that I mention another aspect that aptly exemplifies the quality of our people – volunteer service to the community. We have a large number of people who give up their own time to enrich the lives of others in our community. This year, this collective effort was recognised, in part, with the RNZAF receiving a Social Heroes Award for innovative solutions for its work with ‘Child, Youth and Family’.
So, as we come to the end of another year, we can take comfort in the fact that we belong to an RNZAF family that not only is seen to display professionalism and innovation in all that we do, but also that we do it with a sense of pride.
I thank all members of our Air Force and your families for how you have achieved amazing results this year. Dianne and I wish you a safe and relaxing summer holiday.