Today we fly …tomorrow we soar Published Oct. 1, 2012 By Lt. Gen. Bruce Litchfield Air Force Sustainment Center commander TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Today is a great day to fly ... as we look ahead to soaring tomorrow! Each and every member of the Air Force Sustainment Center should take tremendous pride in what we accomplished this past fiscal year. Working in unprecedented partnerships, we constructed a leaner, more responsive sustainment organization; and we did it while never losing focus on our first priority - delivering airpower to the warfighter. Time and again you demonstrated your ability to meet expectations by delivering critical capabilities using the tenets of speed, quality, and safety. From passing Air Force Material Command's first Consolidated Unit Inspection and garnering the Department of Defense's highest award for depot maintenance to finding innovative ways to reduce the cost of executing our business, team AFSC has already proven we are unequivocally better today than when we activated in July. But what excites me isn't what we have done, but our potential for world-record performances across the sustainment mission. During our first 90 days as a center, we demonstrated unprecedented collaboration across all organizations to successfully posture ourselves to achieve "art of the possible" results. We have the leadership model in place that will enable us to be more and more productive as a center. We are building metrics that provide focus and transparency from the shop floor to the AFMC commander's door; real metrics that measure productivity - not just activity! We are freeing ourselves from a culture of "this is how we have always done it" and embracing the reality that continuous process improvement is the portal to the cost effective readiness our nation needs. In uncertain times, one certainty is that the cost of readiness will be a major factor in shaping the size of the Air Force and its ability to win the next fight. Never doubt, what you do matters! It isn't cliché when I say I am humbled to be part of this remarkable group of logistics, maintenance, supply chain and base support professionals. I hope each of you is as proud as I am in the work you do every day to support our nation's defense. It's going to be a great year!