Barlow reflects on time as 88 ABW commander

  • Published
  • By Amy Rollins
  • Skywrighter Staff
WRIGHT_PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Oh. --  Col. Cassie Barlow took command of the 88 Air Base Wing here on July 17, 2012, and is scheduled to relinquish command July 17 in a ceremony at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force presided over by Lt. Gen. C. D. Moore II, commander of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center.

The Skywrighter recently sat down with Barlow to learn of her proudest achievements, noteworthy tasks as commander and parting thoughts as she heads into retirement after a 26-year career.

Q. What do you consider your greatest achievement, and the wing's greatest achievement, during your command?
A: All achievements in the "Mighty 88" and on the Installation were because of the great team in the wing. Nobody stands on his or her own. I do have things I'm very proud of that were accomplished as a group. For instance, the 88 Medical Group was rated number one in the Department of Defense for patient satisfaction for the past two years. The 88 Communications Group brought us to a new AF network. They transferred the entire base to the Air Force Network in a very timely and efficient way.

Additionally, the 88 Civil Engineer Directorate has done an absolutely amazing job taking care of this base with limited dollars. They have stretched the dollars to still take care of 800 buildings and all 8,000 acres. The 88 Mission Support Group has done an amazing job of continuing to provide quality-of-life programs for our Airmen when budgets have been slashed. They've still been able to open two pools this summer and keep our community center open with a different business model.

Also, we can't do our jobs without the wing staff agencies. They've really dug into their processes as well to improve services to the wing and installation.

I'm incredibly proud of the great Americans that work across the wing and support the installation and put their heart, soul and blood, sweat and tears into making this the best base in the Air Force today. That's what they do, and they are so incredibly proud of what they do. I think we've delivered great service to the base in a fiscally constrained environment that we've never seen before - not in my 26 years. I've never seen a year in which we've gone through two furloughs and a government shutdown and the toughest winter ever in Dayton (Ohio). We've had some unprecedented times. People - not me - have made it all happen.

Q: What helped you succeed?
A: The dedicated team here at the installation and an extremely supportive family at home. No matter what we were doing, when we were doing it, Tim and Emma were always there. That makes life so easy so I don't have to worry about having that support. It's incredible. I've had it for 26 years, and it's been a constant. Emma, in particular, always got excited about moving to a new place to experience a new culture and environment.

Q: What are some other things you accomplished?
A: I was very pleased to be able to attend almost every sporting event for my daughter. With a very busy schedule, this is a huge accomplishment. I tried very hard to send the message that balance is important. I've been here at 6 a.m.; I've been here until 8 p.m. It's necessary when we're working on something of national importance. But I think people perform better at work every day if they have a life. I tried to encourage people to have a balance in their lives. I did that by getting out of here at a reasonable time and by participating in things around the community as well as at my daughter's school regularly. I've had some amazing opportunities.

Twenty-six years ago I came into the Air Force to get an education and was going to stay for four years. I'm still around today because I love the mission and the people. Over the years, the Air Force continued to offer more and more leadership opportunities. I continued to get higher-level leadership and educational opportunities. I was able to build upon these opportunities throughout my career. There's not been a day in my career where I can remember not using my doctorate in organizational psychology. That degree helped make me who I am and helped make me the leader I am today.

Q: What has been your greatest challenge and how did you deal with it?
A: I personally think it was furloughs and sequestration. We kind of saw it coming; there were so many unanswered questions on how we were going to get the job done. We really had to dig deep, once again as a team, to come together, and see what was really important to get done. We scoped things down and did only what was critically important. That was very difficult to manage, from my perspective, and for our leadership across the wing to manage. We still had people who wanted to continue to operate normally. It was a pride thing for them, and it still is. People didn't like letting work pile up on their desk. Helping people through that was difficult. The expectation is you can't do more work with fewer people. The way we got through it was together. We were there for each other.

Q: What do you hope your legacy will be? How would you like to be remembered?
A: I don't like the word legacy because it is about an individual. I tried very hard to connect with people, to care, to help people perform at their best, to make our organization better. The hard part about being a leader is making sure that everybody has what they need to get the job done. I tried very hard to make sure people had the skills, the training and the right equipment.

Q: Do you have any suggestions for ways to improve the 88 ABW? Any words of wisdom for our Airmen and the base community?
A: Continuing to engage with the community is critically important. I think we really stepped up our engagement with the community and learned not to be afraid of engagement. We can sink or swim in the Miami Valley. We used to see ourselves as a little island - we can't survive like that anymore. I'd like to see people encouraged to be engaged with the community and to look for those bridges and partnerships and build on them.

Q: What have you or will you tell incoming installation commander Col. John Devillier about the 88 ABW and Wright-Patterson AFB?
A: I've had multiple conversations with Colonel Devillier to help him prepare him as much as possible for when he arrives here. I think he's going to be great. He's a great American who's done very well in his career and loves to serve and loves people. We'll get into more of the tactical details once he arrives. We'll make sure the baton is firmly passed from me to him, and then he can formulate what he's going to work on in his time here. It's important for him to come in here with a baseline.

Q: What's a memento that means a lot to you?
A: I encouraged our junior Airmen to be active in the community. They formed Air Force Junior Support and took on some big, tough topics. They took on educating our Airmen about sexual assault and suicides. They really took an active role, all on their own. They hosted a huge event in the hangar last year on sexual assault, rotating 900 Airmen through various sessions. It was absolutely incredible what they accomplished that day. It was Airmen talking to Airmen. They took and signed a picture that day and gave it to me. It was a great memento of what Airmen, in a grassroots effort, can accomplish.

Q: What will you miss about Wright-Patterson AFB?
A: The biggest thing will be the people I work with every single day. The good news is that I'm staying in the local area when I retire so I'll be able to continue relationships. It's really cool that I'll be in the area.

Q: How will you celebrate your retirement with your husband, Tim, and your daughter, Emma? What's next for you?
A: We're going to relax and celebrate a little now but the bigger celebration will be next year when our daughter graduates from high school. I'm Iooking forward to sharing her senior year with her.

I don't know what's next for me. I'm going to take some time and think about it. I have some ideas. I would love to serve some way, obviously in a different way - service to our community, to veterans perhaps. I would love to be able to teach a little bit. I'm keeping my eyes open for what's out there. I'm teasing my daughter by telling her I'm going to work at her school!

Q: Any parting thoughts?
A: The biggest and most important one is thanks - thanks to everybody in the wing and our mission partners. I'm trying my best to get around to everybody to share my gratitude. It's been an amazing two years because of the people. They've made it amazing and fun. Thanks to the wing and to our many mission partners across the base. Also, thanks to the Miami Valley. We have a community that I've never seen before in 26 years. It is so supportive of the base. The Miami Valley is special and it has been very, very good to us and to the wing.