New AFDW/CC: Renewed focus on mission, priorities, people

Published Aug. 4, 2014
By Master Sgt. Tammie Moore
Air Force District of Washington Public Affairs

JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Maryland -- Since the day he was born, the new Air Force District of Washington commander has been part of the Air Force.

"My dad was a senior NCO with 23 years of service, so I grew up in the Air Force," said Maj. Gen. Darryl Burke, AFDW commander. "I had an ID card through college. I was in ROTC. Here I am with 31 years of service and still part of the Air Force family. I might be a little lost when I get out."

The decision to serve came early for Burke.

"When I was in the tenth grade at Royal Air Force Alconbury, I used to sit and stare out the window at the RF-4s that took off throughout the day," he said. "I remember sitting there one day thinking to myself... that is what I'm going to do. I set that goal. I graduated from college and came right into the Air Force."

Despite his ambition to serve, after about a decade after joining the service, Burke considered separating to pursue other aspirations.

"I was a major when I considered getting out, I think all of us go through that sometime in our career," he said. "At the time, I happened to be working a real-world operation in Panama. I was working eighteen hours a day for about a week."

The stresses of the operation--and military life--had begun to take their toll, said Burke. But witnessing his individual contribution to the mission proved to be a game changer.

"I was driving home one night when an EP-3 passed overhead and I knew I had done the work to task that aircraft," Burke said. "The next morning my boss came in, threw a newspaper article on my desk, and proudly said, 'Here is the culmination of your work.'"

That day, Burke felt a connection to the mission like never before and decided to stay in the Air Force. Fostering this very understanding in Airmen is one of his first goals in his new role as AFDW commander.

"There are critical missions that we are responsible for in AFDW," Burke said. "I'm going to work hard to get us focused so everyone in AFDW knows what our missions are and how they contribute to them. We are going to focus on that so everybody understands, no matter what they do, they are tied into the mission in some way."

Setting clear priorities is a key part of understanding the mission, Burke said.

"I have found in an organization if you set priorities and say, 'These are the big things I'm working on,' then your organization can focus together," he said. "I think if you keep the priorities straight, then everyone knows what they are working toward, and it makes it easier to do the job."

Among Burke's most memorable experiences was as commander of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing in Southwest Asia from 2005 to 2006.

"This was when we were fighting in both Afghanistan and Iraq," he said. "There I watched Airmen perform in ways you would never dream. The ops tempo was at a blistering pace. Every 120 days the wing would deploy home out and another group would come in. It was just amazing."

Burke emphasized the need for leaders to create an environment where Airmen feel comfortable sharing their ideas.

"Our young Airmen think differently than the older Airmen," Burke said. "We need to let them push up their ideas. I think we can all benefit from them. This is why I say it is hard to win a horse race when someone is yelling 'whoa.' When you don't listen to their ideas, the next time around they will be less likely to offer something up. They have this great innovation, they can save money, they can save time or just offer ways to do things smarter. This is why I think that our young Airmen are very exciting to watch and listen to."
Taking care of Airmen also leads to mission success.

"I always believe that taking care of people in our organization is a great way to get the mission done," Burke said. "If you take care of people, they take care of the mission. If people feel like they are valued, they are part of the organization, and they are contributing, then they tend to meet the goals."

Burke's respect for the Air Force's ceremonial mission was cemented by an act of kindness during a death in the family.

"My father passed away in 1998," he said. "The Air Force Honor Guard did the honors at Quantico, which was my first interaction with the Honor Guard. I was extremely impressed not only with their professionalism, but one of the little things they did for me afterward. They saw I was wearing an Air Force uniform so they gave me seven expended shell casings, which is something they don't normally do. It was a compassionate thing which I've always remembered."

Burke felt great pride when he learned he would command the unit tasked not only with such ceremonial honors, but contingency response and operational support for 40,000 Airmen--10 percent of the enlisted force--worldwide.

"This is my fifth time in command and there is no better job in the Air Force," Burke said. "The opportunity to command the Air Force District of Washington is kind of like a dream come true. To have the opportunity to take an organization and move it, and shape it, for the next couple of years is very exciting. You get to know people, you get to see things change. For me there is nothing more exhilarating than at the end of the day being able to see the little things, the little steps that we all take to accomplish our goals."