ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) -- Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr., virtually addressed Air Force Cadet Officer Mentorship Association members during their 32nd Anniversary Awards Gala, May 15.
In his remarks, Brown shared his views on the importance of seeking mentorship.
"To be truly great, we have to heed the guidance and the mentorship of those who have already learned the hard lessons before us," Brown said. "I'm always excited to speak with mentorship groups like AFCOMA. One of our most important obligations is to help those following in our footsteps to provide the wisdom of our experiences, so that they, too, can reach their full potential."
According to the AFCOMA website, it is a non-profit charitable organization that provides "mentorship, scholarship and fellowship to ROTC and Military Academy cadets, active duty, Reserve component, commissioned officers and active duty or Reserve component warrant officers and Department of Defense GS-12 and above civilians."
Brown shared five points of advice that helped him during his career with the AFCOMA attendees: Fail to succeed, challenge the status quo, trust but verify, have attitude and define success.
He also seized the opportunity to foot-stomp his strategic approach to the current and future leaders.
In August 2020, he released his strategic approach, Accelerate Change or Lose. Subsequently, on Dec. 4, 2020, he released his Action Orders to Accelerate Change Across the Air Force. His strategic approach described his view of the strategic landscape, while the Action Orders represented his call to Airmen to move forward.
"Our Air Force is the only service that provides our joint teammates, allies, and partners the assurance of air superiority, the advantage of global strike, and the agility of rapid global mobility," Brown explained. "Our future Air Force must be agile, resilient, and connected, with the ability to generate near-instantaneous effects anytime, anywhere."
During the event, Brown received the AFCOMA Outstanding Mentorship Award, and in closing, encouraged his audience to hold a personal stake in the Air Force's future and its people and see how they fit into the bigger picture.
"We're all responsible for acquiring, supporting, launching and delivering airpower for our national security," Brown said. "It takes all of us, working together, to create and foster the environment where Airmen are empowered to make positive change, where diversity is valued as the competitive advantage and where all of our Airmen can reach their full potential, but, we must all heed the guidance and mentorship of those who have gone before us and have already learned the hard lessons, so we can prepare for the future."