MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- 0600. Wake up; shower; eat breakfast; head to the office.
This is the morning routine for Col. Michael D. Bennett, the 908th Airlift Wing’s new deputy commander. At least, on this day it was.
“I have three very different routines based on what I’m doing at the time,” said Bennett, an airline pilot in his civilian career. “I have my military routine, my airline routine and my home routine.”
When Bennett is home, which, as many service members will relate, is not as much as he’d like, his schedule is primarily dictated by his children. Getting them ready and off to school and then transporting them to any extra-curricular activities they are into, such as skating or going to trampoline parks.
“Their hobbies have replaced my hobbies,” he said. “I exercise after work a couple days a week, but usually my wife and I are occupied with whatever our kids are doing. Afterwards, it’s homework time.”
Bennett, whose father was an Army Chaplain, is a self-proclaimed “Army brat,” and cites Texas, Georgia and Germany as his primary childhood residences. After his father retired from the Army, the family moved back to Toledo, Ohio, where his father resumed duties at the church he served before joining the Army.
Despite the religious influence that was prevalent in his childhood, it was the military affiliation that had the most impact.
“I didn’t feel like my household was any more religious than any of my friends’ households, per se; I felt it was more a military household.”
Growing up, Bennett played football and other sports where his coaches were prior drill sergeants (military training instructors in Air Force nomenclature). He and his friends spent most of their time in the on-base community, hanging out at the Army & Air Force Exchange Service food court on base or engaged in other activities available to them courtesy of the installation Morale, Welfare and Recreation office.
“We were just ingrained in that military community, and every base we moved to basically offered the same amenities. AAFES had all the same sandwiches and such at the food courts, and they had the same sports and entertainment. That’s what really connected us (children in military families); the familiarity.”
Bennett’s interest in flying began when he was 10 years old, and his older brother began taking flying lessons. He thought that was the coolest thing and began telling his friends he wanted to be a pilot, even though he could barely see over the instrument panel in an airplane.
“My brother flew, I think, a total of three and a half hours. It was a very short career for him, but I never lost that interest. I thought about doing other things, but they were never as strong as the desire to fly. So, I kept asking and asking and working. I could have done something else, but flying is just what my interest developed into.”
When Bennett was 15, his father retired from the Army. The family lived near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio, where he then began taking flying lessons. His ambition was never really to serve in the military, but to become a civilian pilot. However, he also needed a way to pay for his post-secondary education. At the age of 17, he joined the Ohio Army National Guard, where he served as a cavalry scout for Alpha Troop, 2nd Squadron, 107th Armored Cavalry Regiment, in Lebanon, Ohio.
For Bennett, it was a no-brainer decision. Not only did joining the military help pay for college, but it also just seemed like a natural progression to him.
“I was born into it, and I grew up in it… In a way, I never really left.”
Bennett served five years as an enlisted Soldier in the Ohio ARNG, but he never lost the desire to fly for a living. His then troop commander suggested he apply for Officer Candidate School, with the expectation that he would fly helicopters. By March 1999, he was attending OCS at the 147th Regional Training Institute, in Columbus, Ohio. In August 2000, he commissioned as a 2nd Lt. and was assigned as Platoon Leader to 3rd Platoon, Bravo Battery, 2nd Battalion, 174th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, in McConnelsville, Ohio.
“I never thought I’d fly in the military. I didn’t discount the idea, but I wanted to fly airplanes... and the Army doesn't have many of those.”
Fortunately for Bennett, the Air Force has several.
During OCS, he learned about the flying opportunities available in the Air Force Reserve and began applying to flying units wherever he could. Eventually, his persistence paid off.
A little over a year with the 174th ADA Brigade, he cross-commissioned into the Air Force Reserve, and by February 2002 he was a student at the 14th Flying Training Wing, Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi. After graduating in March of 2003, he was assigned to the 356th Airlift Squadron at Wright-Patterson AFB as a C-141 Starlifter aircraft commander.
“My initial plan was to do six (years of service) and get out. That six ended 21 years ago.”
Since then, in addition to aircraft commander duties, Bennett has served various capacities such as chief of flight safety, operations plans officer, fighter planner, assistant flight commander, flight commander, chief of wing plans, deputy chief of operations, squadron commander and deputy group commander. He has served assignments in Mississippi, Ohio, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, and the Middle East. He has master’s degrees in Aeronautical Science and Military Operational Art and Science.
It’s not often that we get to say that we are ‘the first’ at anything. So, when I heard that the 908th was charged with opening a new helo FTU, I jumped at the chance. I knew that I would be going to a unit that was working with three major commands to overcome some difficult challenges. I knew the mission set we would be charged to instruct had a direct impact on any future peer-to-peer fight. I also knew the great history of the people at the 908th and some of their past accomplishments. So, there was no doubt that they found the right wing to get this done and I wanted to be a part of it!
Col. Michael Bennet, deputy commander, 908th Airlift Wing
Now, Bennett and his family are excited to be a part of the 908th as the wing makes history, transitioning from executing a C-130 tactical airlift mission to standing up the Department of Defense’s only formal training unit for the MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopter.
Experience and expertise transitioning a unit from operating C-130s to instructing others in operating MH-139s doesn’t exist because it simply hasn’t ever been done before. But that’s what excites Bennet the most about his new position at the 908th.
“It’s not often that we get to say that we are ‘the first’ at anything. So, when I heard that the 908th was charged with opening a new helo FTU, I jumped at the chance. I knew that I would be going to a unit that was working with three major commands to overcome some difficult challenges. I knew the mission set we would be charged to instruct had a direct impact on any future peer-to-peer fight. I also knew the great history of the people at the 908th and some of their past accomplishments. So, there was no doubt that they found the right wing to get this done and I wanted to be a part of it!”
Bennett sees his role as the deputy wing commander as aiding the wing commander in whatever way is most fitting at the time. This may involve anything and everything from directing wing operations when the commander is away to meeting with community leaders.
The day Soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you don’t care. Either case is a failure of leadership.
It also may mean solving problems for Airmen.
To this, Bennett quotes his leadership inspiration, former Army General and Secretary of State, the late Colin Powell.
‘The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you don’t care. Either case is a failure of leadership.”
As Airmen advance in their careers, it’s natural for their areas of responsibility to grow with them. Each jobs provides a little bit more experience to the next job better. The military has shaped not only who Bennett is as a leader, but as a person, because he grew up in it, and he brings that lifetime of experience to a wing executing the hardest, most complicated, multifaceted mission change the Air Force has ever undertaken.
“Am I anxious? I’m not. That gives the connotation of being uneasy or worried about the task we have been given. I’m confident our wing can do what we have been asked to do; I’m also excited to see the first helos on the ramp. That milestone is not that far away!”