Servant Leadership Impacts More than Those You Lead

As I have watched Eries L.G. Mentzer grow as the commander of Maxwell AFB over the last two years, many things have stuck out that others may not notice. Together, we have had the privilege of working with and for many Servant Leaders in our 55+ years in Federal Government. Much of what we have born witness to, the good and the bad, has influenced our personal and professional lives.

In the City of Montgomery, the Capital of Alabama, there are many voices to be heard.?While opportunities abound to have your voice heard, in the last two years, three opportunities to impact those that follow have stood out. Eries has been a High School Graduation commencement speaker, Troy University’s Graduation commencement speaker, and now the commencement speaker at the Montgomery Police Academy graduation.?Each of these opportunities have not been military in nature, but engagements in the community. Why her, why now??This is a question we have both asked ourselves many times over the last two years.

If you read her speech below, it will answer that question. It is never lost on us that whenever we go into the community how she is recognized and appreciated. There is not a trip that goes by where someone does not recognize the name or her by site. In a community made up of a majority of black women, so many people have thanked her not for her service, but for her example. Young black and brown girls in awe of what they could be; older black and brown women in awe of what is possible; parents thank her for the example she has set; white men and women thank her for challenging all to consider how we can each provide the Freedom to Serve.

In her speech, she addresses and challenges each of the graduates to think beyond themselves. Recognizing that they have chosen to serve where most do not, but challenging them to Just Do Right.

MONTGOMERY POLICE ACADEMY GRADUATION SPEECH

GOOD MORNING MAYOR REED, CHIEF OF POLICE ALBERT, DISTINGUISHED GRADUATES, FAMILY AND FRIENDS AND ESPECIALLY OUR POLICY ACADEMY GRADUATES.?

MAJOR WHEELER, THANK YOU FOR WONDERFUL INTRODUCTION AND YOUR DETAILED PLANNING FOR THIS EVENT. I’M HONORED TO BE HERE.

CHIEF ALBERT, THANK YOU FOR THE GENEROUS INVITATION TO BE A PART OF THIS INCREDIBLE MOMENT FOR MONTGOMERY AND OUR GRADUATES.?CONGRATULATIONS ON POLICE CHIEF AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP OF THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO PROTECT AND SERVE MONTGOMERY.

TODAY’S GRADUATES VOLUNTARILY ANSWER A CALL TO SERVICE THAT AT ANY MOMENT MAY PUT THEM IN HARM’S WAY.?THEY DO SO BECAUSE THEY TRUST AND BELIEVE IN YOU, CHIEF ALBERT … THEIR LEADER. WITH YOUR MORE THAN THIRTY YEARS OF EXPERTISE AND THE GRACE, GRIT, AND GOODNESS YOU BRING, I AM CONFIDENT YOU ARE WORTHY OF THEIR SERVICE, COMMITMENT AND SACRIFICE.?SIR, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.?

MAJOR REED, SIR, IT IS ALWAYS AN HONOR TO UNITE WITH YOU TO ELEVATE AND CELEBRATE PEAK MOMENTS IN THE CITY OF MONTGOMERY … THE CITY WITH AN EXCEPTIONAL LEGACY OF CHANGING OUR NATION FOR THE BETTER.?

FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW ME, MY ROLE AS THE COMMANDER OF MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE IS MUCH LIKE BEING A MAYOR OF A CITY.?LIKE MAYOR REED, I OVERSEE ROADWAYS AND INFRASTRUCTURE, BUDGETS AND POLICY, SCHOOLS AND MORE, TO INCLUDE A POLICE FORCE REPRESENTED TODAY BY ONE OF MY MOST SENIOR AND VERY BEST POLICE OFFICERS, CHIEF KERRY THOMPSON.?

IT IS HUMBLING THAT MAYOR REED AND I SERVE TOGETHER NOW.?WE ARE BOTH ARE PRODUCTS OF AN EXCEPTIONAL MONTGOMERY EDUCATION … ATTENDING RIVAL MONTGOMERY JUNIOR HIGHS AT THE VERY SAME TIME, AND HAVE BOTH DEDICATED TO PUBLIC SERVICE.

SIR, YOUR CITY POPULATION IS MUCH LARGER THAN MINE.?BUT … MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE CITY PROVIDES $2.1B IN ECONOMIC IMPACT TO YOUR CITY SO … I KNOW, IT’S NOT A COMPETITION, TO ME IT IS ONE OF THE GREATEST COLLABORATIONS OF MY CAREER.

SIR, I AM TRULY HUMBLED AND HONORED TO SERVE WITH YOU AS WE BOTH SERVE THE CITY OF MONTGOMERY.

AS THE COMMANDER OF MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, I ROUTINELY EMPHASIZE TWO THINGS … MY COMMAND PRIORITIES AND OUR COMMAND MOTTO THAT OUR THE GUIDEPOST FOR THOSE I AM PRIVLEDGED TO LEAD AND I BELIEVE CAN SERVE YOU AS YOU EMBARK ON YOUR PUBLIC SERVICE JOURNEY.

WE HAVE THREE COMMAND PRIORITIES … FIGHT TONIGHT, FIGHT TOMORROW, AND THE FREEDOM TO SERVE.

FIGHT TONIGHT IS ALL ABOUT BEING READY … READY WHEN OUR BASE, OUR COMMUNITY, OR OUR NATION NEED US. WE DO NOT KNOW WHEN THE NEXT FIGHT TONIGHT IS COMING, BUT WE DO KNOW WE HAVE BETWEEN NOW AND THEN TO ENSURE WE ARE READY.?

FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN THE PRESIDENT’S ADVANCE TEAM GIVES YOU FOUR DAYS’ NOTICE THAT PRESIDENT BIDEN IS LANDING ON YOUR BASE.

VISITS LIKE THAT REQUIRE AN EXCEPTIONAL SHOW OF FORCE AND PROTECTION THAT MAXWELL SECURITY FORCES CANNOT ACCOMPLISH ALONE.?

WE ARE INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL WHEN WE GOT THAT CALL AND WE CALLED THE MONTGOMERY POLICE DEPARTMENT YOU ANSWERED.?

THE PROFESSIONALISM AND PROTECTION EXEMPLIFIED IN SUPPORT OF THE VISITS RESULTED IN THE WHITE HOUSE’S RAVING OF “BEST BASE VISIT EVER.” … ONLY POSSIBLE BECAUSE MPD WAS READY.

THAT FIGHT TONIGHT CAN COME ANY DAY, AT ANY HOUR…. A HIGH LEVEL SHORT NOTICE PROTECTION, A TRAFFIC ACCIDENT, A DOMESTIC DISPUTE, A SHOTS FIRED, A ROBBERY, OR EVEN AN ATTACK ON OUR DEMOCRACY.

TO PREPARE FOR THE FIGHT TONIGHT, WE TRAIN, WE EXERCISE OUR TACTICS, WE BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WE CAN LATER LEVERAGE, WE HANDLE OUR DOMESTIC RESPONSIBILITIES,?WE SPEND TIME WITH OUR LOVED ONES AND HAVE CONTINGENCY PLANS AND COMMUNICATIONS FOR WHEN WE GO ALL IN FOR THE FIGHT TONIGHT.?

WE INVEST IN AND SHARPEN OUR MENTAL, SPIRITUAL, EMOTIONAL, AND PHYSICAL FITNESS, WE PRIORITIZE SELF-CARE SO WE ARE AT OUR BEST AND READY WHEN THAT FIGHT TONIGHT COMES.?

I STAND BEFORE YOU TODAY WITHOUT MY SERVICE DRESS AND IN A SLING BECAUSE EVEN WITH EVERY THING GOING ON AT MAXWELL … I MADE TIME FOR SELF-CARE … IF I CAN DO AS A BASE COMMANDER … YOU CAN TOO.

AS YOU LEAVE HERE TODAY … ENSURE YOU ARE READY TO FIGHT TONIGHT.

OUR SECOND PRIORITY IF FIGHT TOMORROW.?THAT IS THE INVESTMENTS WE MAKE TODAY TO ENSURE WE ARE MORE PREPARED FOR THE FUTURE.

MY #1 COMMAND PRIORITY IS A $15M?COMMERCIAL VEHICLE INSPECTION GATE OFF OF HIGHWAY 31 SO MAXWELL’S SECURITY POLICE HAVE THE PROPER CONDITIONS TO INSPECT ALL UNCLEARED VISITORS TO THE INSTALLATION.?

MAXWELL’S SECURITY POLICE HAVE DEFENDED THE BASE FROM DRUGS, WEAPONS, WARRANTS, COUNTER INTELLIGENCE, AND FROM THOSE WITH INTENT TO COMPROMISE OUR PEOPLE OR MISSIONS … BUT THEY PROVIDE THIS DEFENSE FROM A MAKESHIFT SHELTER OLDER THAN ME WITHOUT THE PROPER SECURITY, HARDENED SHELTER OR EVEN INDOOR PLUMBING.?

I HAVE SPENT THE PREPONDERANCE OF MY COMMANDER’S EQUITY ARTICULATING THIS SHORTFALL TO THE ALABAMA CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION AND HAVE ASSURANCE THIS FUNDING WILL COME IN 2023.

AS LEADERS, WE CANNOT EXPECT THAT YOU WILL VOLUNTARILY JOIN OR PUT YOUR LIFE ON THE LINE IF WE FAIL TO GIVE YOU THE PROPER EQUIPMENT, TRAINING, AND INFRASTRUCTURE.?BUT PLEASE NEVER ASSUME WE KNOW WHAT YOU NEED.

I OFTEN TELL MY SECURITY POLICE, IF YOU ARE CLOSER TO THE PROBLEM, YOU ARE CLOSER TO THE SOLUTION.?HELP ME, HELP YOU WITH THE CONDITIONS YOU DESERVE.?

AS YOU LEAVE HERE TODAY, KNOW YOUR VOICE MATTERS ... CHANGE WILL NOT COME IF WE WAIT FOR SOME OTHER PERSON OR SOME OTHER TIME … WE ARE THE CHANGE WE SEEK … AND I CHALLENGE YOU TO HELP MAYOR REED AND CHIEF ALBERT WITH THE FIGHT TOMORROW … HELP THEM UNDERSTAND THE INVESTMENTS THAT NEED TO BE MADE TODAY SO YOU HAVE A BETTER CHANCE WITH IT COMES TIME TO FIGHT TONIGHT.

OUR THIRD PRIORITY IS THE FREEDOM TO SERVE.?IT IS ABOUT REMOVING BARRIERS AND CULTIVATING CONDITIONS SO ALL AIRMEN AND GUARDIANS (OUR SPACE FORCE) CAN RISE TO THEIR BEST AS PART OF A FULLY INCLUSIVE FORCE.

MY SECURITY POLICE DO NOT LIKE THE BERET … THE UNIFORM HAT … WHICH HAS LONG TRADITION AND CULTURAL HERITAGE IN OUR AIR FORCE.

BUT IN ALABAMA, A POLYESTER HAT, WITH A LEATHER BAND AND NO BILL FOR SHADE … ESPECIALLY ON 90+ DEGREES DAYS WHEN YOU’RE WORKING AS AN ENTRY CONTROLLER CAN MAKE SERVICE MISERABLE.

AGAINST AIR FORCE POLICY, WE CHANGED THE HATS AT MAXWELL. THERE WAS INITIALLY A LOT OF PUSHBACK, BUT NOW OUR NEW HATS WHICH ARE APPROVED FOR THE ENTIRE AIR FORCE ARE LAUDED AS AN AIR FORCE EXAMPLE OF ACCELERATING NECESSARY CHANGE.

WHILE THE HAT MAY SEEM LIKE A SMALL THING, WHEN YOU ADD UP SEVERAL SMALL THINGS THESE PLAY INTO THE DECISION POINTS OF WHETHER AN AIRMAN CHOOSES TO STAY IN AN ALL-VOLUNTEER FORCE…OR LEAVE.?

YOU TOO ARE PART OF AN ALL VOLUNTEER FORCE … MAYOR REED AND CHIEF ALBERT ARE CHARGED WITH ENSURING YOU HAVE THE FREEDOM TO SERVE.?IF THERE ARE BARRIERS TO YOUR SERVICE … THEY ARE COUNTING ON YOU TO BRING THOSE FORWARD SO THEY CAN BREAK THE BARRIERS AND RETAIN YOUR TALENT. WE NEED YOU.

OUR FIGHT TONIGHT, FIGHT TOMORROW, AND FREEDOM TO SERVE ARE ONLY POSSIBLE IF WE ADHERE TO OUR COMMAND MOTTO … JUST DO RIGHT.?

JUST DO RIGHT IS ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER, YOUR INTEGRITY, YOUR MORAL COMPASS.?IN THAT CHOICE MOMENT WHEN TENSIONS ARE HIGH, LIVES ARE AT RISK, HOW WILL YOU SHOW UP??HOW WILL YOU RESPOND.

JUST DO RIGHT MEANS DOING THE RIGHT THING AT ALL TIMES AND IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES, WHETHER OR NOT ANYONE IS WATCHING.

IT TAKES HAVING THE COURAGE TO DO THE RIGHT THING, NO MATTER THE CONSEQUENCES. BECAUSE RIGHT IS THE FOUNDATION OF A JUST SOCIETY.

BUILDING A FOUNDATION OF TRUST TAKES YEARS, BUT IT TAKES ONLY A SECOND TO LOSE, AND FROM THERE IT IS BE ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO REGAIN.

IN A WORLD, WHERE WE HAVE UNFORTUNATELY BECOME SO TENSE, SO DISTANT FROM ONE ANOTHER, SO QUICK TO RE-ACT BEFORE WE UNDERSTAND, TO CRITICIZE BEFORE WE CONTEMPLATE.?NOW, MORE THAN EVER, YOUR JUST DO RIGHT IS CRITICAL.

TIMES ARE EVER-CHANGING IN THE WORLD, AND WITH THAT COMES UNCERTAINTY. YOU WILL BE INTRODUCED TO DIFFERENT WALKS OF LIFE EVERY DAY, REMEMBER TO ALWAYS BE UNDERSTANDING AND TO THINK THROUGH EVERY SITUATION CRITICALLY. JUST DO RIGHT.

WE ARE COUNTING ON YOU TO REASSURE PEOPLE THEY ARE SAFE IN OUR COMMUNITY.?THOSE THAT GAVE THEIR FULLEST MEASURES IN SERVICE TO OUR COMMUNITY DID SO FOR THE IDEALS ENSHRINED IN OUR CONSTITUTION AND VALUES … LIBERTY, JUSTICE, FREEDOM AND EQUALITY.?

YOU ARE THAT FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE OF THOSE IDEALS ... MAKE SURE NOTHING INFRINGES ON AMERICAN LIBERTIES.?

THERE WILL BE TIMES WHEN OUR SOCIETY WILL NOT SEE YOU FOR THE TALENTED, PROFESSIONAL, BRAVE, AND SELFLESS WOMEN AND MEN IN SERVICE THAT YOU ARE.

ON THE TOUGH DAYS WHEN YOU ARE TEMPTED TO GIVE UP, YOU WILL HAVE TO FIND THAT BELIEF IN YOURSELF...BECAUSE WE NEED YOU TO UPHOLD SAFETY, SECURITY, FREEDOM, JUSTICE AND MOST IMPORTANT, HUMANITY.?JUST DO RIGHT.

PUBLIC SERVICE CAN BE A THANKLESS JOB SOMETIMES. NO ONE WILL TRULY UNDERSTAND THE WORK REQUIRED TO ENSURE SAFETY EVERY DAY. PUTTING YOUR LIVES AT RISK IS NO EASY TASK TO DO, AND THAT MAY COME WITH A BURDEN.

YOU HAVE DEDICATED YOURSELVES TO THE SAFETY AND SECURITY OF THE WOMEN AND MEN OF THE CITY OF MONTGOMERY. MOST OF WHOM YOU MAY NEVER KNOW … AND WHEN LAW AND ORDER PREVAIL, WILL NEVER KNOW YOU.

BUT FOR THE ONES YOU WILL KNOW, LIKELY IN THEIR DARKEST, MOST FRAGILE MOMENTS, KNOW THAT HOW YOU CHOSE TO RESPOND IN THOSE MOMENTS REPRESENTS NOT JUST YOU, BUT THIS CITY, THIS COMMUNITY, OUR AMERICAN VALUES.

TRAGEDY EITHER MAKES PEOPLE APPRECIATE THEIR FELLOW AMERICAN OR FEAR THEM. TRUST YOUR INSTICTS, YOUR TRAINING, AND JUST DO RIGHT…. WE NEED OUR COMMUNITY TO ALWAYS APPRECIATE YOU!

THERE WILL BE TOUGH TIMES AND EVEN TIMES WHEN OUR COMMUNITY IS DIVIDED… IN THOSE TOUGH TIMES, OUR COMMITMENT TO VALUES, OUR LOVE OF SERVICE, OUR SENSE OF COMMUNITY, OUR COMMONALITY, OUR HUMANITY, OUR HOPE AND BELIEF IN OUR AMERICAN IDEALS … LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS WILL PROPEL US FORWARD… ESPECIALLY IF WE JUST DO RIGHT.

THANK YOU ALL FOR ANSWERING THE CALL TO SERVICE. WE ARE THE HEIRS OF GENERATIONS OF BOLD, BRAVE WOMEN AND MEN WHO NEVER WAVERED IN THE AMERICAN DREAM OR THE BELIEF IN THE GOODNESS AND HUMANITY OF AMERICAN PEOPLE.

CONGRATULATIONS GRADUATES … THANK YOU FOR SERVICE … JUST DO RIGHT.?THANK YOU.