SUPERVISORS: The New Air Force Millionaires

Why Do Supervisors Think That Airmen "Work For Them"?

Mt Santa Rita Naval Link Station Front Gate	View of Subic Bay from Mt Santa Rita	View of Mt Santa Rita from below

I was a shiny new Airman, new to the Air Force, new to being overseas, and on my first duty assignment. We were TDY at Mount Santa Rita, a remote mountain-top site in the Philippines, installing some communications equipment. It was the end of a long day and we were headed for the trucks to go back to the hotel. When the team chief, who also happened to be my supervisor, asked us if we wanted to work the next day, which was our scheduled day off, and finish the job early and go home, I said no. I'd rather spend my day off in the local bars and go home the next day as planned. My co-workers agreed. And the subject was dropped. I didn't know it right then but that really annoyed my supervisor. And when we got in the truck, he turned around in the drivers seat to face me in the back and, trembling with rage, screamed, YOU WORK FOR ME DAMN IT !

I was really surprised because I didn't know I had pissed him off and hadn't meant to. I was just trying to be funny. If he had let it be known that it was important to him, I think I would have readily agreed to work whenever he wanted. I realized later that that was his first assignment as a Team Leader and he was trying to do a good job. It probably meant a lot to him to be able to finish the job early and to be recognized by the NCOIC as a good Team Leader. Which is completely understandable. But the point of this story is that that was the first time I heard the phrase "you work for me" and sadly it wasn't the last. Over the course of my 25 year Air Force career, I heard variations of that claim hundreds and hundreds of times.

I can't tell you how many times NCOs and Officers have related stories to me with references to "this guy that worked for me" or "these guys that used to work for me". It appeared that most of the NCO Corps viewed the world as being comprised of two flavors of people: those that worked for them and those that didn't. Judging from how often I heard that favored description, you would think that the Air Force is teeming with millionaires and you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting one accidentally. Because, where I'm from, only millionaires or business tycoons can afford to have people working for them.

In reality, no one ever worked for those self-important supervisors. The Air Force doesn't assign people to "work for" supervisors. Supervisors are given the challenging job of training and motivating their apprentices. They are assigned the responsibility to guide, train, and develop their charges but in no way do those subordinates work for their supervisor. They work for the Air Force, for their country, and for themselves. If an NCO had enough brains and initiative to have other people working for him, he wouldn't be in the Air Force in the first place -he would have his own successful business!

So supervisors, remember: It isn't correct or accurate to claim that your subordinates work for you. If you believe that, your understanding of the supervisor /subordinate relationship and Air Force management policy is fundamentally flawed. If anything, YOU work for the subordinate!