Culture of Resilience: Wingmen, Teammates Through Change Published Jan. 20, 2012 By Christy Bickel and Betsy Adams Air Force District of Washington Protocol 1/20/2012 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As we come to the Capital Wingman Culture "Culture of Resilience" observation, we realize how much we depend on each other. The 2005 Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines resilience as "an ability to recover from or adjust easily to change or misfortune. " As Air Force District of Washington Wingmen, we have had multiple opportunities to adjust to change. We, like every organization in our Air Force, are faced with doing more with less, reacting to mission creep while undergoing simultaneous reductions in manpower. We prioritize our mission tasks, distribute manpower appropriately, and plan how best to accomplish our mission with excellence and efficiency. Along with a total mission focus, we are challenged to remember to also take care of unit members. It is easy to say "suck it up...we have to get this done" and many times much harder to take additional time and effort to devise, explain and socialize a plan that accommodates personnel needs for time to "recharge." We have different ways of re-charging our inner strength - exercise, quiet reflection, faith, helping others, and more. We all need time to pursue those activities. AFDW Wingmen are ready to go the extra mile to accomplish our mission of contingency support, world-class Air Force ceremonial ambassadorship, and staff support to headquarters Air Force. Part of going the extra mile is looking into the face of your fellow unit members, asking how you can help, and thanking them for their service to this mission and our nation. The values we share as Wingmen far outweigh our differences. Remembering that we are teammates in service is part of the "Culture of Resilience."