Getting to know your group CC

  • Published
  • By Capt. Carla Gleason
  • 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  Part one of the 56th Fighter Wing leadership series

Hailing all the way from Alaska, the newest group commander to take the reins at Luke Air Force Base is ready for the sunshine ... even if she will miss the moose.

"I will miss the wildlife in Alaska the most," Col. Yolanda Bledsoe, 56th Medical Group commander, said as she laughed at the mention that quail might be considered wildlife. "But with all of the sunshine here and the great people I have encountered so far, I am a happy camper."

Colonel Bledsoe has only been on station a short time, but she's already got great plans for her new team.

"My mission here is to optimize our human weapon systems on the ground so the wing is able to launch all of those F-16s," said Colonel Bledsoe. "We'll do that by continuing to provide quality health care for our patients."

There is no shortage of patients at Luke, where more than 28,000 beneficiaries, active-duty members and retirees receive care between the clinic here and through more than 5,000 contract providers. The 56th MDG provides both hands-on patient care and coordination for all of them, and they do it well according to several recent inspections and awards including the Best Clinic in the Air Force.

Colonel Bledsoe is quick to praise the Luke medical team for its award winning performance over the past several years. "But we don't want to rest on our laurels," she said. "We've done great things here at Luke and we need to continue to do great things."
She said those great things will include expanding the groups' network in the community, building trust with patients and instilling team work.

"It's not about our job title as medics," Colonel Bledsoe said. "It's about being an Airman first and foremost." Based on this interview, resting on her laurels is the last thing the colonel would ever be accused of. She spoke with exuberance, a sense of humor and an eternal smile. In fact, the only time the colonel put on a serious face was when talking about the importance of Airmanship.

"The Air Force is all about the people," Colonel Bledsoe said in one of those rare moments of intensity. "Not just people, but great people; people who do great things every day. It's a higher calling."

The new medical group commander heard the higher calling herself more than 21 years ago when she gained a direct commission as an obstetric nurse via a six-month intern program out of Langley Air Force Base, Va.

"I wanted to become a nurse because it gives me the opportunity to lay hands on patients and provide them with care," she said. "While I may not get a chance to do this directly as much as I want today, I do influence their care by providing effective leadership, attitude and direction to the medical group staff."

Although she didn't set off down the nursing career path with the Air Force in mind, once she joined, Colonel Bledsoe knew she had made the right decision.

"I am very fortunate to have experienced such great diversity in the Air Force as a care provider," she said. "I am able to provide hands-on bedside care and roll into the leadership aspect as well; that's a unique experience in the medical world."

She was also able to broaden her experience outside of her career field as a Squadron Officer School flight commander, an executive officer and as a protocol officer.

"The experience as a flight commander at SOS was probably the best one of my career," Colonel Bledsoe said, who still carries her SOS coin with her. "It taught me how to think critically and, more importantly, how to communicate those leadership principles to others."

She put those skills into practice on a larger scale during two squadron commands where she solidified her leadership philosophy.

"Leaders provide four main things in either give or receive mode -- direction with a purpose, trust, hope and results," she said. "The purpose piece includes a certain level of passion, not crazy passion, but appropriate passion for the job at hand. And hope is that bright light at the end of the tunnel, that attitude that you can hopefully push to your folks. Given the first three are executed well, successful results should follow."

Based on her sunny demeanor, that bright light should be evident to all. And, who knows, maybe she'll learn to love the prairie dogs here as much as she enjoyed the Alaskan moose.