'It’s About Dusting Yourself Off and Getting Back in the Fight'

Colonel Kim “Killer Chick” Campbell still vividly recalls the order from her Air Force squadron commander.

She and her fellow fighter pilots were to draft letters home so that in the event of their deaths during Operation Iraqi Freedom, he would have something to deliver to their families.

“It was a reality check,” Campbell said. “This was a dangerous environment. This was something we hadn’t seen before, and we needed to be ready.”

More than two decades later, Campbell still hasn’t opened the letter she wrote that day, but still regards the exercise as one of the more significant of her 24 years in the military.

“More than anything, it centered us,” she said. “However good you think you are, however much you think you’re invincible, you need to be ready to face some really hard things.”

The Daily Coach spoke to Campbell about overcoming the word “No,” the three Ps that shape her decision-making processes, and why it’s so important in the military to debrief after a mission.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Col. Campbell, thank you for doing this. Tell us about your childhood and some key lessons from it.

I grew up in San Jose, Calif. I decided I wanted to be a fighter pilot when I was 10 years old. I was watching the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger, and there was this awesome thrill and excitement of flight. Then, obviously the tragedy and devastation. But there was something for me in that moment even at 10 knowing the astronauts died doing something they believed in, something that was more important than themselves.

It was a time when women weren’t allowed to be fighter pilots, but nobody told me that. My parents just said, “If that’s what you want, you have to work hard and go after it.” That mindset, that advice was really valuable at a young age. You can set goals, you can have dreams all you want. But you’ve got to put in the work to make them happen.

You were rejected from the Air Force initially. How did you overcome what must’ve been major disappointment?

I put everything I had into going to the Air Force Academy. My senior year of high school, I got a rejection letter. It essentially said, “You’re not good enough. You can apply again next year.” It hurt. It was devastating. I was at a low point.

Thankfully, I had teachers, coaches, mentors, parents who believed in me and said, “If this is what you want, don’t quit.” I had an idea that I would write the Air Force Academy a letter every week to let them know that I was still interested. I also let them know if I could do more pull-ups, or pushups, or sit-ups. Eventually, I took a different standardized test, which helped, but I just let them know I wasn’t going to quit. This was what I wanted.

That rejection really served as motivation. I decided from that point on, I wasn’t going to just survive at the Air Force Academy. I was going to excel. I wanted to prove I belonged there. I ended up graduating at the top of my class.

You will face rejection. You will hear the word “no.” You will face challenges. There are things in your life that are not going to go as planned. What do you do in that moment? It’s about dusting yourself off and getting back in the fight, knowing that yes, you faced this hard thing, but you can move beyond that if you have the dedication, the drive, the motivation, the grit to get up again.

When did you earn the nickname “Killer Chick?”

Every pilot gets a callsign. We don’t name ourselves. It’s a fairly big naming ceremony. We get named after we are designated as combat-mission ready, meaning we’re ready to deploy with a unit. It usually happens on the Friday night, a big celebration.

You’re not in the room when they tell stories about you to come up with your name. I remember walking back in the room after, and I can hear them laughing and telling stories. They said, “Your callsign is ‘KC.’” I thought that was really lame. Those were my initials. They said, “Your name is Killer Chick.” I thought all right, well I was the only woman in our fighter squadron, and it was fitting for that.

Can you tell us about writing the letters to your family in the event of your death?

We were getting ready to start Operation Iraqi Freedom. Before we could fly, our squadron commander asked us to write these letters home so that if we didn’t make it, he had a letter to deliver to our families. When we’re young, we think we’re invincible and those things won’t happen.

We had essentially said our goodbyes, which is a really tough thing to do. I don’t remember exactly what I wrote, but it was really letting people know you care about them. Sometimes, we forget in the craziness of life to let people know what they mean to us. This allowed us to compartmentalize and focus on the task and mission at hand.

Why is contingency planning so important in the Air Force?

In the military, we often think of the most likely scenario and the most dangerous scenario. What’s the worst thing that could happen? What’s the most likely thing that’s going to happen that doesn’t go according to plan?

The key here is it’s not just what could go wrong. It’s — what will you do when that happens? It’s thinking about the action you will take. When I start feeling worry, doubt, or fear about something, if I take the time to think through, “What am I worried about? What am I afraid of?” and I think about what I will do, then I can let that stress and fear go.

At some point, you’ve got to be able to feel that you’ve planned enough, that you’ve done the work, and then you’ve got to move forward. But I think having a plan for what you will do makes a big difference.

Can you share your 3 Ps?

They’re something I’ve done throughout my career. Prepare, practice, plan.

Prepare is do your research. Seek out the lessons learned. Find what hasn’t worked in the past. Think through and prepare for those moments.

But then you have to take the next step and practice. In the flying world, we use a concept called chair flying, where we sit in a chair, face our wall which has a cutout display of the cockpit, and we sit there and visualize. We think through critical radio calls, critical steps, maneuvers, walking through the entire mission as if we’re in the cockpit. I’ve realized that applies outside the cockpit as well. When we visualize and practice something in advance, we prime ourselves for action and can effectively cope with stress. It’s about building muscle memory and connections with our team.

Then, it’s that final step of planning for contingencies. It’s important to have a positive mindset, but I also think it’s important to think about the potholes down the road. What can go wrong and what are you going to do in those moments?

You shared an interesting video recently about the importance of the debrief after a mission. What were you trying to accomplish in those sessions?

A debrief is important whether the mission is successful or not. Part of a debrief is we check rank and ego at the door because we want younger, less-experienced people on the team to feel safe and provide feedback to more experienced members. It’s got to be a safe space where people feel they can provide feedback without blame, without shame. The focus is on learning, development and growth.

In a debrief, we talk about what we did well, because we want to be able to repeat that on the next mission. But we do drill down into the mistakes we made. What was the root cause of it? Sometimes, we’re quick to judge, and we can blame someone or something. But that’s not really the root cause, so (we continue) to ask that question “Why?” Once we determine the root cause, then we can determine what lessons did we learn and what are we going to do differently the next time around?

I think that debrief is a great accountability tool for any team or organization. We have objectives that we want to achieve. How did we do? What did we do well? What didn’t we do so well? And what are we going to do differently?

When we share the lessons, then we create better teammates, better leaders. It’s about creating a culture focused on continuous improvement, one where we can learn from our failures and mistakes along the way. It’s not easy. It does take a leader to set the example, to set that safe space, to admit mistakes themselves. But debriefs are very critical.

Part 2 of our interview with Col. Campbell will run next Saturday, Sept. 14.

Col. Kim Campbell ― Website | Book: Flying in the Face of Fear | Speaking | X | LinkedIn | YouTube | Instagram

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