Today a group of people are getting together to raise money in memory of Olivier Sanche for his daughter Emilie's college fund.

The Memorial Fun that has been set up at Wells Fargo Bank under the Olivier Sanche Memorial Fund, account #3165058052. The fund is open until January 23rd, the week following the fund proceeds will be presented to Olivier's family towards Emilie's future education.

Olivier and I spent a lot of time together and one of the ways you could describe our relationship is we were wingman for each other.

"The wingman is absolutely indispensable. I look after the wingman. The wingman looks after me. It's another set of eyes protecting you. That's the defensive part.

"Offensively, it gives you a lot more firepower. We work together. We fight together. The wingman knows what his responsibilities are and knows what mine are. Wars are not won by individuals. They're won by teams."
Today, the strategy of having a good wingman is still relevant, but its application reaches far beyond the arena of aerial assault. When fighter pilots lift off into the great expanses of the sky, they may not know what threats lie beyond the horizon. Similarly, with each new day, we have no idea what lies ahead.

The common denominator is that daily challenges are conquered by responsible choices, and creating a culture of responsible choices is reinforced by the presence of a good wingman. In the spirit of the Gabreski quote, "personal battles are not won by individuals; they are won by the reinforcement of good wingmen."

We had each others back and watched out for each other in the data center industry. Olivier was a wingman I could count on that had integrity that was never questioned. It is a complex task to green the data center. Much more than simply getting LEED points.

The challenge, like a thousand-piece puzzle, is that it can sometimes be more difficult than it first appears. The path of least resistance shouts for us to do nothing while a fellow Airman makes a life or career-threatening decision; however, accepting the challenge of being a comrade in arms is a daily whisper for us to courageously be involved. The moral courage to do the right thing is more than just ornamented words; it is the foundation of our Air Force Core Values: Integrity First.

I miss Oliver as a wingman, but any person who uses the concept of a wingman wants more than one wingman/wingwoman.

Who has your back?