On the home stretch, 30 days until CUI!

  • Published
  • By Col. Phil Stewart
  • 9th Reconnaissance Wing commander
BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Mark your calendars, only 30 days remain until the long anticipated Consolidated Unit Inspection, more commonly known as the CUI. For many months, we have been preparing for the inspection while also continuing to support the warfighters around the globe.

When one thinks of an inspection, they typically associate it with longer workdays, inspectors knit-picking through files, and asking a thousand questions that seem self-explanatory.

However, I would encourage you to think of the inspection from a different perspective. This is your chance to highlight your accomplishments, show them your innovative ways of doing business and prove that our Airmen are executing the mission with global impacts on a daily basis. Tell the stories of Airmen cutting costs, resources, manpower while improving processes. Explain the obstacles you overcame to get the job done. Most inspectors have worked through some of your same issues, so trying to hide things or avoid taking about obstacles or issues may lead them to focus more on what you aren't saying.

Realize that the inspectors are here to verify what we are self-reporting. If the MICT system shows your unit is green, than inspectors will reconfirm you have accurately reported your status. If you aren't green, then you need to work with your unit leadership to identify those areas and focus time and effort getting them up to green. Just changing a color on a chart without fixing the issue won't solve the problem and isn't following our core values. Elevate your concerns before the inspectors arrive. This is an open book test, so there should be no surprises when the inspectors arrive at your work station.

Core Values during the CUI:

Integrity First: We all know what it means to have integrity; to be honest and possess a good sense of moral uprightness. "Integrity" starts with an "I" for a reason, in order to expect honesty and greatness from others, we must start with ourselves. I must square myself away. I must demonstrate polished dress and appearance. I must abide by my customs and courtesies. I must keep my attitude in check and not hesitate to correct others. I will play my part by demonstrating integrity all the time.

Service Before Self: We all must go the extra mile to see Beale succeed on this inspection. We are all on the same team, and since we are in this together, we must support each other to the very end. Now is the time to help each other and keep a positive attitude. Part of being an Airman is being a team-player and understanding that it's not always about you, but instead about how you can contribute to better the team.

Excellence In All We Do: I sincerely believe that Team Beale is the best team in the Air Force and I will do everything I can to show the inspectors that. The inspectors will be analyzing the details of your job with checklists and supporting documents and it is our responsibility to demonstrate to them that nobody knows our jobs better than us. On this final stretch to the CUI, we should be focused on: fine-tuning our work spaces, documenting properly, squaring away our programs, familiarizing our knowledge of the AFIs, communicating with each other, implementing a plan to improve deficiencies, paying attention to the details, striving to understand our unit's mission and be able to articulate our contribution, and most importantly, continuing to do our day-to-day tasks with all of our effort while committing to excellence in every way. I will do my job to ensure that the inspectors believe Team Beale is the best, but your job is to show them why, by being the outstanding Airmen that you are.

The CUI does not have to be an event we dread, it can serve as a valuable opportunity to highlight to the inspectors the work we do on a daily basis and remind them how we are warfighters, key assets to ISR dominance; we support the Air Force mission every day, directly supporting warfighters from here at Beale and all around the world with our many geographically separated units.

We must treat the inspectors with respect and create an open dialogue with them. Remember, they have a job to do just like we do and part of our job is to accommodate them so they can do their jobs. From the moment the inspectors arrive to the moment they step back on their airplane to leave Beale Air Force Base, we have the ability to shape their impression of us. Now is the time to determine what impression we want to make. The CUI is not a way to force us to do our jobs right, but instead an opportunity for us to demonstrate that we already do that, each and every day.