Douglas A Furst

Readiness: A Commander's Responsibility Douglas A Furst

Publisher Marketing: Military readiness has been and continues to be a paramount priority of our government and Department of Defense (DoD) to perform a broad spectrum of mission capabilities. The challenge to conduct and sustain the DoD missions with short notice to any point on the globe involves pulling together reliable equipment, proven procedures, and proficiently skilled personnel to respond to a contingency tasking, deploy with minimal delay, and conduct operations. Of this description, the mobility readiness of personnel remains a key enabling factor. A squadron commander directly affects the readiness of their troops by the priorities he or she places on: training core-skills, exercising realistic contingency scenarios, establishing a mobility mindset, and ensuring proficiency in wartime skills. The primary research question addressed in this paper is: "How does a commander most effectively measure, track, interpret and affect the personnel readiness of his/her mobility squadron?" This research solicited insight and feedback from mobility experts and past commanders. This insight consolidated into seven readiness-enabling factors to serve as a practical guide for new commanders, providing a perspective from which to approach their role and responsibility in enabling personnel mobility readiness.