6 minute read
Executive Director’s View
Mastering The Machine (NHA) – Take Two
By CAPT Jim Gillcrist, USN (Ret.)
Happy New Year to all – in this column, I am rolling in hot, right behind RADM “Dano” Fillion.
Upon flight logbook review:
• Logged 117+ hours in the T-28B Trojan
• Logged 1,008+ hours in the SH-2F Seasprite
• Logged 1,725+ hours in the SH-60B Seahawk
In other words, I got real good in three specific aircraft. Meaning, I mastered each of these machines in keeping with the theme of this issue.
So, when it applies to our professional organization, mastering NHA means that members appreciate why they join and/or renew their membership – it is that simple – and they are involved.
The question … “Why NHA?” … has been baking in my mind since I took over as Executive Director in 2019. From my view almost four years later, the question needs to be restated and should read … “Why wouldn’t you join and stay current in your professional organization?” This became clear at the 2022 Gulf Coast Fleet Fly-In (GCFFI) when I addressed this question, to the crowd in the Atrium, at the National Naval Aviation Museum.
Mastering NHA recognizes that the organization is unique as we promote Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Rotary Wing, Tilt Rotor, and Unmanned Aviation. Its members include pilots, aircrewmen, and maintainers because that is how we operate and deploy – as a team, and that is also how we succeed.
NHA continues to get healthier with membership and volunteerism up. JOs and Aircrew themed the 2022 Symposium and GCFFI and then planned and executed both events for members – creating more connection professionally and personally, as well as enhancing the pure fun of gathering as members of the Rotary Wing / Tilt Rotor Community.
WE ARE A RELATIONSHIP ORGANIZATION. Meaning that the relationships we make at the squadron and aboard ships on deployment are lifelong, enriching, and purposeful. These same relationships continue downstream and remain powerful in our military careers, as well as when we transition to our next adventure outside of the service. We look after one another and pay it forward continuously. This awareness is the essence of mastering the NHA machine.
Nowhere is this “brotherhood and sisterhood” and sense of community more striking than was on display recently in Norfolk during a Santa Flight that originated out of HSC-2 on Saturday, 3 December – please see the full story on page 61.
Nuff said, 2023 will be a big year for Rotary Wing and Tilt Rotor Aviation beginning with HSM-41’s 40th Anniversary on 20 January followed by Sikorsky Aircraft’s 100th Year Anniversary as well as the 80th Year of Delivery of Sikorsky Helicopters to the Fleet. Another big milestone is the 50th Year Anniversary of the Induction of the First Six Female Naval Aviators into Naval Air Training. All of this will be on display at the 2023 NHA National Symposium at Harrah’s Resort Southern California from 17-19 May with a theme of … “Forging Legacy – Legends Past and Present!”
Lastly, we are returning to a printed Rotor Review Magazine and Region Stipend Checks in 2023 to continue to deliver value and enrich our professional organization as we all master NHA together.
So, please keep your membership profile up to date. If you should need any assistance at all, give us a call at (619) 435-7139 and we will be happy to help – you will get Linda, Mike, Allyson, or myself.
Warm regards with high hopes, Jim Gillcrist.
We’ve Always Done It That Way
By Jim Stovall
We celebrate entrepreneurship and successful start-ups. These ventures come from new thinking and different ideas born out of invention, innovation, or improvement. When we consider how to move ahead in the future, we must recognize that the enemy is a mentality defined by the statement, “We’ve always done it that way.” The fastest way to never improve is to never change. Not all changes result in improvement, but no improvement comes from maintaining the status quo.
I’m reminded of the story about the bride who wanted to bake a ham for her new husband as her first home-cooked meal. She called her mother to ask the best way to do it, and her mother explained, “You begin by cutting off the end of the ham, then place the ham in a baking dish.” When the new bride asked her mother why she cut off the end of the ham, the mother had to admit she didn’t know, but she explained it was what her mother had told her. The bride decided to call her grandmother to try to solve the mystery of the ham. The grandmother had to admit she had no idea why she cut the end from the ham. It was simply what her mother had done.
The bride continued her quest by calling her great-grandmother in the nursing home. When she asked why she had cut off the end of the ham and why it seemed to be a family tradition, the great-grandmother responded, “I don’t know why anyone else cuts the end from the ham, but I did it because my pan was too small.”
One of the most powerful exercises you can undertake in your personal or professional life is a practice I call deconstruction. This endeavor is a mental process in which you consider everything you’re currently doing and ask, “Why?” Then you consider everything you’re not doing and ask, “Why not?” Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Everything needs to be placed under the microscope and scrutinized. There should not be any sacred cows in your life.
In the final analysis, all we have is our time, effort, and energy. If there’s a better way to utilize these assets, we must embrace it. Even if we undergo the process of deconstruction within an area of our life and determine everything is as it should be, it’s much like going to the doctor for a checkup and being given a clean bill of health.
As you go through your day today, question everything and embrace the possibilities.
Today’s the day!
