General Marquez Ethical Leadership

Who is considered the grandfather of Air Force maintenance and what does the Mattel toy company have to do with the F-16 aircraft? These questions will be answered in this essay. The purpose of this essay to define and outline specific rationale on why Lieutenant General Leo Marquez was both a visionary and ethical leader. I will do this by discussing three main points. In my first main point, I will provide a quick background on General Marquez, and discuss why he was a visionary leader by translating his transformational behavior component of inspirational motivation using his Research 2000 program as an example. In my second main point, I will discuss how Gen Marquez was an ethical leader by possessing the free-thinking characteristic

While doing this, maintenance communities across the globe began to elevate issues that replacement parts for these aircraft, particularly the F-16, were built via incorrect specifications and either did not fit, work properly, or became unserviceable long before the estimated service life. According to Specht’s (2003) Stars and Stripes article, General Marquez stated “We are putting parts in the F-16 that Mattel wouldn’t put in its toys” (Specht, 2003). In response, General Marquez developed the Research 2000 program, outlining his vision to throw away these replacement parts and start over with the goal of good spare parts for the F-16 by the year 2000. This program paved the way for what we now know as the ‘cradle to grave’ acquisition process. General Marquez was a visionary leader because, he was able to translate his vision and passion into developing deliberate functions to help the aircraft maintainer. Based on the Thomas N. Barnes Center of Enlisted Education in Full Range Leadership [BCEE] (2016), General Marquez was able to leverage his transformational behavior component of inspirational motivation to present this program to the entire United States Air Force logistics community as “must achieve future”, putting balance and controls in place that lasted long after his retirement (BCEE, 2016, p.

Let’s breakdown a couple of my leadership actions, decisions, and behaviors that showcased General Marquez’s accomplishments while also impacting my ability to become a more transformational leader. First, weapons loaders utilize a specific bomb strap that secures a bomb to a transport vehicle until it can be secured to the aircraft. This bomb strap is vital to the weapons loading operation; an unserviceable strap could lead to a dropped munition, or catastrophic explosive scenario resulting in death/injury to personnel or damage to equipment. A batch of incorrectly assembled bomb straps were manufactured and sent to us, making their way into tool boxes for operational use. A subordinate recognized the incorrectly assembled strap, completed the paperwork and shipped them back to the manufacture, but did not follow up to ensure the specifications were re-drawn, or if the supply system had been purged to prevent