A ‘safe, compliant, and efficient’ plan of attack Published July 31, 2013 By Airman 1st Class Lauren Pitts Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- As Col. Patrick E. Butler returns to Minot Air Force Base, he is excited to take on the role of commander of the 5th Maintenance Group. "I'm happy," said Butler. "I wanted to come back." However, the colonel is not the only one looking forward to being back in Minot. His wife and their five children are all thrilled to be a part of Team Minot again. After graduating from the Air Force Academy in 1991, Butler set out on a long, successful Air Force career. After working as Minot's 5th Maintenance Operations Squadron commander in the 23rd Bomb Squadron between 2002 to 2005, he returns as the commander of the 5th MXG. Since returning, Butler said he has set three main goals for his Airmen and himself. The first goal is for the 5th MXG to accomplish, "safe, compliant, and efficient aircraft maintenance." The B-52 is a very important part of our nation's security, so it's no wonder Butler believes those assets should be protected. "We need to make sure we are being safe because we have people flying those air planes, and they rely on our safety every day," said Butler. "Every Airman is very important to our mission; if an Airman gets hurt, it hurts our mission." Safeguarding our assets such as the B-52 requires not only safe maintenance, but compliant maintenance, he continued. "The B-52 is a complicated aircraft," said Butler. "We have to make sure that we're doing things correctly." Butler said he expects safe and compliant maintenance, but is always looking for more efficient ways to complete the mission. "By doing things efficiently, we're going to make the B-52 better," said Butler. "If there's some way to do things faster, we need to push those ideas up." Another of Butler's goals is to ensure his Airmen's quality of life issues are addressed. "A lot of people would say that quality of life is time off," said Butler. "But it's not. Quality of life is giving our Airmen the training, tools, technology and the time to do their job right." When Airmen are doing their job right, they become more confident. He wants every Airman to go home and know they make our mission better. The final goal of Butler is the mission itself. He believes that as long as there is safety and quality of life, the mission will fall together. "If you take care of the first two," said Butler, "the sorties will just happen." Aside from the goals Butler has set for his time as the 5th MXG commander, he said what he is most excited about being back in Minot is seeing the Airmen grow. Butler believes you have to be tough to be at Minot AFB and believes strongly in the base's mantra, "Only the Best Come North." "I want to see proud Airmen. Airmen who feel good about what they do when they go home," Butler said. Most of all, Butler wants his Airmen to realize their contributions make the mission work. He said the Air Force is an institution that builds people from the ground up and a lot of responsibility is placed on young Airmen. However, we are able to do so because of the time, training and technology we invest in our Airmen said the colonel.