Whitmore speaks on future assignments

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Charles Dickens
  • 14th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  Retired Maj. Gen. James Whitmore visited Columbus Air Force Base Oct. 26 to speak with the Air Force's newest pilots during the Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training Class 13-01 graduation.

Whitmore offered advice for future assignments and emphasized the importance of maintaining focus on the mission at hand.

"You're all now part of a very elite fraternity and you'll never be looked at the same, but I caution you to remember that you're officers first, then pilots," said Whitmore.

Whitmore stressed that graduating pilot training is one of the biggest days in the life of a pilot, along with getting married and the birth of a child. He said that with the honor of graduating and becoming a certified Air Force pilot comes a few things to keep in mind.

"Despite all the mission planning in the world, the missions never go exactly as you thought they would," said Whitmore.

Whitmore continued on that note, emphasizing the importance of making the best of every situation that is given. All missions and responsibilities that are given are not always going to be the most optimal tasks, but often times they can lead to greater assignments.

"You never know exactly what path you're going to end up on," said Whitmore. "It's not necessarily what that path is, but how you deal with it. Make the best of what you have and move on because you never know where you're going to end up."

The retired major general also gave 10 tips for the pilots to take with them to all future assignments. He said he considered these tips that he learned over his flying career to be valuable lessons for any pilot.

One of the tips that Whitmore gave was to focus on the assignment at hand and not to be distracted by future tasks.

"You have to bloom where you're planted," said Whitmore. "Don't spend a lot of time worrying about your next assignment, do the best you can at what you're doing right now. You're going to make yourself and your unit much more combat-capable by being as good as you can be in what you're doing right now."