During Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh’s Air Force Association speech (in which he wore the now-famous Captain America mask), Gen Welsh also made a point of promoting the use of social media:

Welsh encouraged the use of social media to facilitate two-way communication and buffer against communication pitfalls such as “stove-piped information.”

“Chief (Master Sgt. of the Air Force James) Cody and I are on Facebook and Twitter, which is terrifying,” Welsh said over laughter. “Follow us.”

On that note, General Welsh (who signs his personal Facebook posts “r/mark”) recently said:

Right now is a great time to be a leader in our Air Force, at every level…Our Airmen need that reassurance that their leaders care…that we will take care of them and their families despite all of the uncertainties in the air. We need them to stay focused on doing their job, and let us focus on the other stuff. We’ll sort it out…r/mark

Many have probably had “that leader” at some point in their career — the one who amplifies external problems rather than dampens them, which naturally distracts from the mission. General Welsh’s paradigm of a military that has leaders who protect their people from such distractions, so they can focus on the mission, is a noble one.

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