Photo By Senior Airman Junhao Yu | Col. Richard Bourquin, commander of Space Delta 4, visited the Airmen of the 6th Space...... read more read more
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Col. Richard Bourquin, commander of Space Delta 4, visited the Airmen of the 6th Space Warning Squadron here on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020.
To start off the day, Bourquin received a mission brief followed by a tour of the facility. On the tour, several areas were highlighted with briefings by subject matter experts and demonstrations of systems.
The site tour was capped off with a trip to the roof the Precision Acquisition Vehicle Entry Phased Array Warning System (PAVE PAWS), providing a 360 degree view of Cape Cod.
The PAVE PAWS radar is responsible for detecting sea-launched and intercontinental ballistic missiles. Upon missile detection, crews assess system indications to determine validity, number of launched vehicles, and convey the anticipated impact points to the United States and its allies.
In the afternoon, Bourquin held an all-call, where he outlined his set of values for DEL 4.
He spoke of promoting a vibrant and healthy culture, taking care of people and executing the mission.
Among Bourquin’s values is a focus on developing leadership at all levels.
He said, “If you’re a supervisor, you need to think about how you’re developing those who work for you; how you’re developing them into better leaders - that can take your place.”
He continued by turning the same philosophy inward, asking Airmen to look at themselves and think of how they can develop themselves as leaders.
“As you get more and more senior, that becomes more and more important,” Bourquin said. “Understanding yourself as a leader and how to make yourself better. If you don’t have some self-awareness, you don’t know where you need to improve.”
Bourquin spoke of selfless service and sacrifice, acknowledging that Airmen are working weekends, overnights, and often missing time with family.
“That’s important,” he said. “That sacrifice is the reason a lot of you joined the military – but we need to balance that with the next value - each one of you and your families - that’s our greatest asset.”
Bourquin reinforced the importance of taking care of Airmen and their families.
“There’s a balance there - we’re going to sacrifice when we need to, but when we don’t need to, we’re going to take care of ourselves and we’re going to take care of your families; we’re going to value your time, we’re not just going to waste your time.”
Bourquin also stressed the importance of building meaningful relationships.
“You’ve got to be willing to invest some level of emotional capital in developing professional relationships – in personal relationships as well,” he said. “I try to approach everybody with an assumption of trust – that you have the best interest of the organization, of me and of those around you as we talk - as we develop a relationship.”
Bourquin added, “I’m asking you to trust each other and work on building those relationships. We’ve got to take care of each other; we’ve got to look out for each other.”
In closing, Bourquin spoke about being a part of the first days of the U.S. Space Force. “There’s a real opportunity here to do things better, to make a difference, to really shape how we’re going into this new service.”
| Date Taken: | 08.18.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 08.31.2020 15:35 |
| Story ID: | 377164 |
| Location: | CAPE COD AIR FORCE STATION, MA, US |
| Web Views: | 143 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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