Inspections: What about YOU? Published May 10, 2013 By Maj. Steven Schutt Inspector general, 42nd Air Base Wing MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Al -- The base inspector general's office continues to prepare Team Maxwell for the consolidated unit inspection, or CUI, in September. Steady-state mission readiness is a significant point for consistently and continuously demonstrating "excellence in all we do." But how do you know? What do you do to verify that you are living that principle? What do you do to verify that you are reaching for and maintaining that desired level of steady-state mission readiness? If you are like me, you look in the mirror and you look often. You become (if you aren't already) your own worst critic. You assess yourself. That's right, you assess yourself. You are doing self-assessment, and I bet you do it every day without conscious thought. You do it for almost every aspect of your life: how you look, how you are dealing with your spouse or significant other, how you prepared for that test, evaluation or inspection, how you are dealing with your children, how you are managing your time, how you are doing your job ... I believe you get my point. Self-assessment is crucial. Honest self-assessment is motivation, and consistent self-assessment is growth. My emphasis on self-assessment is simple: It is the best tool to evaluate how you are demonstrating steady-state mission readiness. In other words, it is the best tool to know how you are doing. So, are you doing well? Are you giving 100 percent? Are you improving yourself, your unit, your Air Force? Are you motivated by the answers you get from your self-assessment? What steps are you taking after you complete a self-assessment? You can now see the importance of self-assessment, and it does not matter the form. Individual self-assessment, internal self-assessment, external self-assessment, self-assessment checklists, self-assessment feedback, actions taken because of self-assessment, and improvements taken after self-assessment all contribute significantly to being excellent. They contribute to being the best, and they contribute to you having a high level of steady-state mission readiness.