Photo By Crystal Housman | A promotion ceremony is held for 163d Attack Wing Commander, Col. Dana Hessheimer, as...... read more read more
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In the climax of The Natural, broad shorthand – “Nebraska farm boy…blazing speed” – told moviegoers all they needed to know about a fearsome rookie pitcher.
For newly promoted Brig. Gen. Dana Hessheimer, outgoing Commander of the 163d Attack Wing, further details matter, but the analogy still flies.
The son of a Nebraska small town construction-company VP, Hessheimer would make the big leagues and scorch it at 580 mph, out of the stretch, piloting his RC-135 in combat and beyond, gaining altitude all along the way.
And, as Hessheimer wistfully conceded at the promotion ceremony at March Air Reserve Base in August, his ascension to Wing Commander, his new appointment as Director of the Joint Staff of the California Military Department, even his joining the Air Force in the first place, all came down to serendipitous moments, from the sergeant who ignored a machine that flunked Hessheimer’s vision test and insisted upon a second opinion, to a chance meeting in France when (now-retired) generals Randall Ball and Albert “Putt” Richards recruited him to move to California. “I’ve never had any lofty goals,” Hessheimer admits, “Just do the best you can at the job you have.”
But those who know Hessheimer best credit pluck, not luck. “It is a demonstration of our faith in Colonel Hessheimer’s work ethic, his moral character, his ability to lead, in a way that will be effective for the state of California and the United States of America,” said Brig. Gen. Clay Garrison, CANG Air Component Commander, at Hessheimer’s promotion. “Up to this point, Col. Hessheimer has done everything that we’ve asked him to do, and he’s done it well, which is why we’re here today.”
Then even Garrison noted the chance factor: “The moment is right, the time is right, and you’re the right person for the job.”
Garrison may have been referencing the oddity that, previous to Hessheimer’s appointment, the slot at state headquarters had been typically (if not always) filled by Army officers. “I think Gen. Baldwin wanted to get somebody from the field out of the field into a staff position, and someone from the blue side of the house, to get a different perspective, a different look at how they are doing things on the joint staff,” Hessheimer surmised. He acknowledged that the move, following the appointment of Col. Keith Ward, former vice commander at the 163d Attack Wing, as Commander of the 146th Airlift Wing at Channel Islands, might be seen as a deliberate effort to shake things up by dropping commanders into unfamiliar territory in order to bring varied experiences to bear upon Wing issues.
Hessheimer feels he leaves the Wing in good shape. “I’ve accomplished pretty much everything I’ve wanted to accomplish,” he recollects. “Getting the Wing converted from MQ-1s to MQ-9s in extremely fast fashion. And the biggest task was getting us moved from SCLA [Southern California Logistics Airport] down here to March so we’re not putting our Airmen at risk going up and down the hill.
“And using RPAs [remotely-piloted aircraft] in domestic operations,” Hessheimer continues, ”so we did that, and we’re still the only ones who have done that. And to get new mission sets here, not only the operational mission. And, with the [Hap Arnold] Innovation Center, take the technology we have and utilize it in different ways. And we’re starting to see, throughout the state, how we can distribute full-motion video on unclassified systems, which nobody else does.”
Hessheimer sees the “new mission sets” part as unfinished business. But the groundwork has been laid by a force-development team that broke down “the barriers between groups. Years ago it was Ops versus Maintenance versus {Mission Support Group] versus Med Group, and everyone was stove-piped into their groups.” One step in the right direction: Hessheimer saw to it that First Sergeants could not go back to the groups from which they originated and had maybe gotten too cozy, moving them around, “forcing them to go out and become cross functional. That’s resonated to the point that Airmen tend to do that on their own, without having to be told,” Hessheimer says. “I take that as a huge success.”
The commitment of continuous combat operations took its toll on the Wing, Hessheimer admits. “Because of the overwhelming Title 10 [federal] war fighting, the Title 32 work for the state was secondary,” Hessheimer says. “One thing I didn’t do is build us back into a true Guard unit. There was no more unit deployment, getting everyone together on drills.” Hessheimer says that by 2005, the tempo of combat operations became so fast and furious, “drills were never the same…We lost the cohesiveness of a Guard unit. We’re trying to build it back by bringing in traditional commanders, like we used to have. We’ll carry that on.”
That said, Hessheimer lauded the RPA combat missions themselves: “How we take care of Soldiers, Airmen and Marines overseas is extremely important and beneficial. And that’s a whole Wing effort. That mission doesn’t get flown without the whole Wing behind it.” He predicts a reduction of combat operational lines to one, and soon to none. At that point, he says, “It will be time to start building toward state mission and training for federal mission, get back to that mentality. We’ll still have a Title 10 presence, but not nearly what we used to have.”
“I love this job because you affect people, and affect them in a good way,” Hessheimer concludes. “I’ve been blessed that I had the opportunity to lead people.”
| Date Taken: | 09.01.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 10.15.2017 14:57 |
| Story ID: | 251758 |
| Location: | MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 1,074 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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