MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- The 42nd Air Base Wing commander, Col. Eric Shafa, speaks to Airmen during his first commander’s call as the new commander.
During his speech, he shared his experiences, as well as, his priorities and goals for the wing.
“People first and mission always,” said Shafa. “You may have heard that the other way around, but that is the way I look at things. It’s the people, the Airmen that are the backbone.”
Among the advice he provided to the Airmen was to know their jobs, be a leader, make decisions, and set examples.
“I like people with a good attitude,” Shafa said. “There are some folks that can probably walk around here and have the most positive attitude all day, with a constant smile on their face and that’s fantastic. But I know for a lot of us it’s not realistic, so I don’t expect that. But what I do expect you to have is a good attitude. I expect you to be able to come to work and do what needs to be done.”
In the coming months, Shafa plans to tour Maxwell-Gunter and get to know the 42nd ABW Airmen on a more personal level.
“We are all a team, and what we do supports a big mission here,” Shafa said. “I want to see what you all do and how your work supports the mission both here and on Gunter. We speak about Gunter Annex as a separate base, but that’s no longer the case, we are one team one fight.”
“What you do matters,” Shafa said. “We just have to show it and prove that we are the best Air Base Wing.”