375th Civil Engineer Squadron commander values competence and character Published Oct. 23, 2013 375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- Lt. Col. David Novy, 375th Civil Engineer Squadron commander, assumed command July 12. He leads a 366-person squadron that is responsible for training and deploying Air Force civil engineers to open, establish, and operate expeditionary air bases worldwide. Additionally, the squadron constructs repairs and maintains facilities and infrastructure worth $3.3 billion to support the 375th Air Mobility Wing and tenant units. In addition, the squadron provides housing, fire protection, aircraft crash rescue, emergency management, explosive ordnance disposal, and environmental stewardship necessary to effectively perform and support Scott AFB missions on 3,600 acres. What led you to join the Air Force? Many of my high school teachers were retired Airmen. They came from a range of backgrounds--KC-135 navigator, chaplain's assistant, FB-111 bomber/navigator, military training instructor, and forward air controller. The more I watched them and came to know them, the more I knew they were the kind of people I wanted to be associated with in my adult life. It wasn't just their stories, even though most were Vietnam veterans with incredible service records, it was the way they carried themselves, the values they demonstrated, and their dedication to service that I wanted to be associated with. What have been some of your favorite memories? I've had a lot of incredible opportunities in the past 17 years, and every assignment has been full of highlights, but all my favorites center around the people I've been stationed with. By far, the best moment was Nov. 14, 2012, at the conclusion of a ceremony in the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes for one of my Explosive Ordnance Disposal Airmen who had been injured in an improvised explosive device blast 14 months earlier in Afghanistan and was awarded the Silver Star for his actions saving a Marine's life. After evacuating the injured Marine and while conducting post-blast reconnaissance, he sustained injuries that resulted in the loss of both legs above the knee and his left arm below the elbow. He arrived for the ceremony that afternoon riding an electric wheelchair up onto the stage, but when former Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James Roy offered him his wheelchair at the end of that ceremony, he replied very casually, "No thanks. I'll walk," and did just that. Watching that Airman walk off the stage was incredible, but it didn't end there. He's now back at work at Hurlburt Field, Fla., on the Air Force Special Operations Command staff as the MAJCOM's EOD functional manager. What is your leadership philosophy? Two things matter: competence and character. In our squadron, competence is what makes you a good civil engineer, and character is what makes you a good Airman--both are required. Character is one of those attributes that we know when we see it, but it's sometimes hard to describe. I like the way Col. Jim Slife, defines character as the intersection of courage, integrity, and perseverance. It is sometimes easy to slip into a mode where we rationalize or defend an undesirable outcome or behavior by saying someone is an asset simply because they are good at their job. If someone is good at their job, but lacks the courage, integrity, and perseverance to be a good Airman, they are missing a key attribute expected of all of us in uniform. Competence is something we can train, and develop. Character is a much more personal quality built and demonstrated over a lifetime. What can your Airmen expect from you? I place a premium on building partnerships and teamwork. The challenges we face today can't often be solved by one person, and the civil engineer career field is a perfect example of that. Without contracting and comptroller, all we have in CE is a lot of smart people with good ideas. Without the security forces, our fire department and emergency management responses would be as productive as a two-legged stool. Without bioenvironmental engineering, the Medical Group, and Safety, our Environmental Management program would be missing the components that build and maintain a comprehensive and reinforcing Environmental, Safety, and Occupational Health Compliance Assessment Management Program. What do you want from your Airmen? Honesty, accountability, and dedication go a long way toward building credibility and they tend to set the stellar Airmen apart. I've already seen it in our water and fuels systems maintenance shop in a senior airman who is part of the team that keeps our aging wastewater treatment plant running; in the airman first class firefighter who without any prompting ensured I was aware of the vehicle safety requirements before my airfield orientation instead of just assuming I knew what I was doing; in the senior airman from our Programs Flight who manages hundreds of thousands of dollars in storm damage projects in the wing headquarters and AMC headquarters buildings; in the technical sergeant who has the daunting task of leading our efforts keeping heating and air conditioning systems running in some of this installation's most critical facilities; in the power production and electrical shop Airmen who keep our communications infrastructure literally humming; and in our Dirt Boyz (heavy equipment operators) and structures Airmen who demonstrate it on a daily basis responding to storm damage and maintaining our airfield despite significant contract support reductions. Who do you admire and why? I admire anyone who is willing to do what's right, not what's easy. The craftsmen who do the dirty jobs in the cold, heat, rain, or snow so that the mission can continue. The first responders who suit up and advance towards a crisis saying "not on my watch" while everybody else is evacuating. I admire the Airman who despite multiple deployments and accumulated months or years away from family re-enlists to continue serving our country. And most importantly, the friends and families, who despite the deployments, long duty days, and weekend standby duty calls that end up pulling our members away from what is off-duty time for everybody else, continue to support our Airmen and our squadron.