Col. Maness reflects on career, tenure at Kirtland

  • Published
  • By Michael P. Kleiman
  • 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
KIRTLAND AFB, N.M. --  On Tuesday at 10 a.m. in Building 760, Colonel Robert L. Maness will relinquish command of the 377th Air Base Wing, and shortly thereafter, he and his family will travel to New Orleans, La., to begin a new chapter in their lives.

He will transition to civilian life, where he will begin serving as an executive with Entergy, Inc., an electric and gas utility corporation.

In an interview Aug. 19, Maness reflected on his past and looked ahead to the future.

Since assuming command of the installation 16 months ago, what have been the accomplishments, opportunities and challenges of leading Kirtland AFB during your tenure?

"Let's start with the nuclear mission. The team has gone through several initial nuclear surety inspections and has established good relations with all the inspector general teams. The team performed almost flawlessly in the December 2010 Defense Nuclear Surety Inspection, getting the best possible grade in two major-graded areas that we're responsible for, one of which was the Personnel Reliability Program, and we also got the next-best grade in security.

I'm very proud of all the Airmen for that. They created a seamless operations and maintenance scheduling function for logistics movements. Our Security Forces Group is about to compete in the Air Force Global Strike Command's Nuclear Mission Games/Challenge for the first time, and we're excited about that because, in my opinion, they are the model nuclear security force in the Air Force. During that NSI in December, the Medical Group had zero annotations on the medical records that were reviewed. You can't ask for anything better than that. They are the model for PRP medical management in the Air Force.

The next thing I'm most proud of is how the team has handled the environment. We've gone through several no-notice environmental inspections, with no notices of violation. We've made great progress on the characterization and remediation efforts of the bulk fuels facility fuel plume at almost lightning speed, installing 78 more monitoring wells that will increase characterization data and help us get the right mechanisms in place to get the fuel out of the ground and off the water table as quickly and efficiently as possible.

I'm also proud of the team for coming up with a strategic communication plan to go along with that effort, in order to keep the public and local, state and national elected officials informed, so they can fully understand the lengths the Air Force is going to, to ensure no water production wells are ever contaminated by that jet fuel. To date, there has been no contamination of any water production wells. On the recycling effort, we have increased our recycling efforts by five percent over the year and a half that I've been here, and we've just started to turn the power on to a solar-thermal energy project at the indoor pool that will save us $30,000 a year.

We're also in the running to receive $3.8 million to build our first-ever micro-grid system on the base. We partnered with Sandia National Laboratories and completed a study that will eventually design eight micro-grids on the installation that will allow us, in emergencies and times of stress on the electrical system, to collectively use all the backup power sources to keep those micro-grids going, so electrical power is available to Kirtland facilities that serve the national security mission.

Finally, the third thing I'm most proud of is the performance of the Airmen and civilians as a team, and how they interact with the over 120 mission partners that are conducting critical national security missions. Our Airmen make it look like it's a piece of cake. They gave me an opportunity to be part of their team and I hope they know they are an elite organization conducting a highly valuable mission to the senior leadership of the United States and our service.

Reflecting on your 32-year career, can you address the highlights, individuals who made a difference, and lessons learned?

"That's a long time and lots of highlights. The Iranian hostage crisis started about a year after I came on active duty and at that time, I was in explosive ordnance disposal. The highlight of that part of my career was getting to know individuals that participated in that operation when the military attempted to rescue those hostages. I learned very quickly that military people - our all-volunteer force - are special. Being given the opportunity to meet all these thousands of Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines that have volunteered to come on active duty is the best thing about my career.

In this job, that's the most important thing to me - those young Airmen that come to this base as their first assignment, to go face-to-face with them, and thank them on behalf of my family and on behalf of their country, for volunteering to serve and selflessly put their lives on the line. Every time I witnessed or had the opportunity to be part of a team that was participating in a combat operation, the thing that stood out the most was the young men and women and their dedication, their commitment and their willing sacrifice. It's not me doing the mission now, it's the young men and women that are out there shouldering the mission."

Within days after your departure, the 377th Air Base Wing and other base mission partners will experience, for the first time, five distinct command inspections (Limited Nuclear Surety Inspection, Operational Readiness Inspection, Safety Inspection, Logistics Compliance Assessment Program, and Environmental, Safety and Occupational Health Compliance Assessment and Management Program) over a 12-day period. What words of wisdom do you have for Team Kirtland to succeed?

"Take one day at a time. You're very prepared. Address each issue as it arises with confidence and the ability you've demonstrated in my tenure here, to work as a team every single day. I expect the outcome will be an exceptional one in each of the rated inspections, based on the performance of all the teams I have had the opportunity to work with and be a part of here at Kirtland AFB. Remember, no one individual is indispensable. It's a team effort. This one will require us to focus on that team effort, as well as individual effort, job knowledge, skill levels, attitude. The attitude you need to have, especially for the Air Base Wing Airmen, is that aggressive spirit of the tiger - that goes all the way back to the 377th Combat Wing's very beginnings at Tan Son Nhut (Air Base) in South Vietnam. If you apply those things, the outcome will take care of itself."

What are your thoughts about transitioning to civilian life?

"We're excited about the opportunities and the stability for our family. We still have young children at home and we're looking forward to providing some stability for our youngest son, who is six years old. We're excited about the opportunities for the future of our country. We hope to continue our work to support our Airmen, to make sure they continue to get the benefits they deserve. We promise that there will not be a day when the sun sets that we are not thinking of them or working for their welfare."

What have you and your family enjoyed about living in the Land of Enchantment?

"It's an unbelievable place to live. Ninety-five percent of the time, you look up at the sky and it is a clear blue, with low humidity and nice temperatures. What we've really enjoyed about Albuquerque is that it may be a city of one million people, but it's got a small-town feel. This is a busy job, but we had time to get out and see the countryside, take drives, and go up the tram to the top of Sandia Peak and look out over Albuquerque at sunset - which is beautiful - go to baseball games and the balloon fiesta last year - that's a once-in-a-lifetime experience - to see hundreds of balloons getting airborne at once. Really, it's been about the people. Everywhere we have gone in our Air Force career, we've always gotten the most out of the relationships we've established. We've made lifelong friends at each location and we look forward to maintaining our lifelong friendships that developed here."

Is there anything you would like to add?

"Probably 10,000 things. I encourage every high school graduate to consider serving their country in uniform. Their country needs them. They need their intellect, their know-how and their work ethic. The potential out there to do good - for the American people - every day on your job - is the most rewarding thing you could ever see."