Working to achieve excellence in all we do Published June 1, 2016 By Senior Master Sgt. Christopher Calhoun 71st Flying Training Wing Staff Agencies superintendent VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- We hear the Air Force Core Values referenced so often that we know them by heart -- at least we should. But do we really work to live them every day? I want to focus on one of those values for a moment. "Excellence in all we do." It is a simple phrase that captures exactly what is expected of us and what we should expect of ourselves and our subordinates. But how many times do our efforts, and those of our subordinates, fail to demonstrate excellence in all we do? In this day and age of manning issues and "doing more with less," it is easy to overlook simple mistakes and blame them on the fact that we may be feeling overworked. It is not a big deal, right? It is just a few simple mistakes, like the misspelled word on an enlisted performance report, or the comma or period out of place on that same report. Someone else will catch it and fix it, right? Wrong. Simple mistakes lead to big mistakes very quickly. They do not demonstrate excellence in all we do and should not be accepted or justified as a byproduct of a busy workforce. We get what we tolerate. Excellence in all we do does not mean we cannot make mistakes. We are human and we do make mistakes. We grow and improve when we make every effort to learn from those mistakes and ensure they do not happen again. We must work hard to identify those mistakes so someone else does not have to. The next time you find yourself rushing to complete a task, remember the core values. Slow down, review your work and ensure you have done your best to demonstrate excellence in all we do. The Air Force Core Values -- Integrity first -- Service before self -- Excellence in all we do