Do more with less

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Christopher McGhee
  • 308th Aircraft Maintenance Unit
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  In preparing to write this article, I searched for a quote that I believe exemplifies work ethic. Sam Ewing once said, "Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."

I've served in many leadership positions. From frontline supervisor to instructor, section chief and even stand-in first sergeant on occasion. One of the lessons I've learned is nothing compares to the feeling you get from success. I've also learned success without struggle is hollow and success through hard work and effort is a reward in and of itself.

Too often we hear the saying "do more with less," but what does that really mean? It means each individual has a greater personal responsibility and a greater effect on mission accomplishment. Doing more with less means each of us has to make a commitment.

It's not new or foreign to any of us. It's a commitment we've all made in the past. When we talk about the Air Force core values, doing more with less is synonymous with service before self. Quite frankly our business takes sacrifice. Gone are the days where your contribution, or lack thereof, wouldn't be noticed by the end production. Every single member of Team Luke is crucial to mission accomplishment. To put it bluntly, when you show up to work, do work! Everyone in your work center, unit and squadron is relying on your personal effort and your contribution to the mission.

I would ask every Airman to honestly evaluate their capabilities and act on known inadequacies. Be motivated to aggressively tackle tasks. If everyone internalized this type of work ethic, we all would quickly find ourselves without much work to do.

Many of us spend more hours with our coworkers than our own families. Our active-duty, Reserve and civilian counterparts become our military family. I encourage all of you to support our military brothers and sisters by sacrificing and committing to the important mission at Luke Air Force Base the same way we would support our biological families; just as our families support us to accomplish our mission. This type of reciprocal altruism, a.k.a. the golden rule, will inherently drive success.

The combined efforts of the entire Luke Team will make doing more with less a saying from a bygone era. As we collectively expand our contribution beyond ourselves, it has an inspirational effect on others. That is the mindset that makes us the world's greatest Air Force. We can't "fly, fight and win," without everyone's buy-in to the team effort.