| What Boards Should Ask Before They Hire an Operator | 2026-08-29T16:01:14+00:00 | | Boards spend weeks diligencing financials before an acquisition and twenty minutes diligencing the operator hired to run it. Three questions to fix that. | |
| Trust What’s Tested, Not What’s Told | 2026-08-29T16:01:03+00:00 | | Every organization has two versions of itself: what's reported upward, and what survives testing. Scott Pleus on the gap most leaders stop checking. | |
| The Two-Sentence Test for Whether Your Culture Is Real | 2026-08-29T16:00:44+00:00 | | Listen to how your team describes its last miss. Two sentences will tell you more about your actual culture than any survey. Scott Pleus explains. | |
| The Interview Question That Screens for Accountability | 2026-08-29T16:00:15+00:00 | | One question, asked correctly, tells you more about a candidate's operating standard than every reference check combined. Scott Pleus on how to ask it. | |
| The First Ninety Days Aren’t About You | 2026-08-29T16:00:01+00:00 | | Most advice for a new leader's first ninety days is about making an early mark. Scott Pleus on why reading the standard already there comes first. | |
| The Cost of Being the Only One Who Can’t Say It | 2026-08-29T15:59:48+00:00 | | The people best qualified to describe what makes them valuable are frequently the ones least able to say it out loud. Scott Pleus on the structural cause. | |
| Speed Is Not the Opposite of Diligence | 2026-08-29T15:59:37+00:00 | | A sixty-day turnaround and a decision Scott Pleus still thinks about years later ran on the same instinct, at two speeds. Here's the distinction. | |
| Why 'No News Is Good News' Is the Most Dangerous Sentence in Business | 2026-08-29T15:59:10+00:00 | | Somewhere in your organization, a problem that used to generate a complaint has stopped generating one. Scott Pleus on why silence has to be verified. | |
| Discipline Without Cruelty | 2026-08-29T15:58:59+00:00 | | Discipline and cruelty are not on the same axis. Scott Pleus on why conflating enforcement with harshness costs organizations their best talent. | |
| Recognition Doesn’t Need a Speech | 2026-07-29T00:54:47+00:00 | | Scott Pleus on why the best recognition he ever gave was four words long, no ceremony required, and why small, immediate praise beats the big gesture. | |
| The Decisions You Can’t Undo | 2026-07-29T00:52:57+00:00 | | Not every leadership mistake resolves into a lesson. Scott Pleus on the decisions that don't undo, and how to operate with them anyway, for good. | |
| Why I Don’t Trust My Own Success | 2026-07-29T00:51:00+00:00 | | Three years of zero failures felt like winning. Scott Pleus explains why he stopped trusting his own clean record, and what he did about it. | |
| Readiness Is a Product, Not a Value | 2026-07-29T00:48:46+00:00 | | Most executives can name a value their culture produces. Few can name what it manufactures. Scott Pleus on treating readiness as a real product. | |
| The Standard Doesn’t Scale, It Repeats | 2026-07-29T00:46:09+00:00 | | A leader's presence enforces a standard at small scale. It can't at large scale. Scott Pleus on what has to replace it as an organization grows. | |
| The Third Discipline: Why Good Culture and Good Systems Still Aren’t Enough | 2026-07-29T00:43:24+00:00 | | Good culture and good process still aren't enough. Scott Pleus on the third discipline, unannounced verification, that tells you if the first two work. | |
| The Word Most Executives Use Wrong (And Why It Costs Them) | 2026-07-28 | 989 | Responsibility means meeting your duties. Accountability means owning the outcome. Scott Pleus on the language gap that quietly wrecks enterprise results. | Related To: What you tolerate, you teach. What you enforce, you build. |
| The Three-Minute Test That Tells You Whether Your Organization Will Fail Under Pressure | 2026-07-28 | 1022 | Three minutes on any operating floor reveals whether an organization is ready or only looks ready. Scott Pleus on the signals that can’t be staged. | Related To: What you tolerate, you teach. What you enforce, you build. |
| Zero Failures Is Bad News: What Boards Miss About Readiness Reviews | 2026-07-28 | 1026 | Zero failures for years isn’t proof of readiness — it’s proof the test stopped working. Scott Pleus on the boardroom blind spot most executives miss. | Related To: What you tolerate, you teach. What you enforce, you build. |
| AFA 'Air and Space Warfighters in Action' Webinar | 2026-07-15T11:33:17+00:00 | | Pleus joined the Air Force Association's webinar series to discuss the operating environment on the Korean Peninsula, including how the January 6 Capitol attack was perceived by regional allies and adversaries. | |
 CMSAF Wolfe on Standards, Teaching, and Rapport with Wilsbach | 2026-02-24T00:00:00+00:00 | | Tangential coverage referencing Pleus's tenure and standards-focused leadership approach; no new direct quote from Pleus. | |
| Air Force Grapples with Challenges to Aircraft Readiness | 2026-02-03T00:00:00+00:00 | | Coverage of remarks by Pleus at a public forum addressing the structural drivers of aircraft readiness shortfalls across the fleet and the service's response. | |
| After 11-Month Vacancy, Air Force Has a New Vice Chief | 2026-02-02T00:00:00+00:00 | | Coverage of Gen. Lamontagne's confirmation as Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, closing out the roughly year-long period during which Pleus performed the duties of the office. | |
| Air Force Orders No-Notice Readiness Inspections | 2026-01-29T00:00:00+00:00 | | Pleus, in his role as acting Vice Chief of Staff, is quoted at length explaining the rationale behind new no-notice unit readiness inspections across the Air Force. | |
| Lamontagne Nominated for Vice Chief | 2025-12-16T00:00:00+00:00 | | Coverage of Gen. Lamontagne's nomination to be Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, the post Pleus had been performing the duties of on an acting basis. | |
| Bussiere to Retire After Vice Chief Nomination Withdrawn | 2025-10-01T00:00:00+00:00 | | Coverage of the extended Vice Chief vacancy, during which Pleus continued to perform the duties of the office as Director of Staff. | |
 U.S. Air Force Vice Nominee Pulled | 2025-09-08T00:00:00+00:00 | | Reporting on the withdrawal of a Vice Chief nomination, discussed in the context of the leadership vacancy Pleus was filling on an acting basis. | |
 Three-Star General Performing Duties of Air Force Vice Chief | 2025-02-24T00:00:00+00:00 | | Reporting on Pleus stepping in to perform the duties of Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force following a leadership change at the top of the service. | |
| With Hold Lifted, What Happens Next for New Generals? | 2023-12-07T00:00:00+00:00 | | Coverage of a batch of general officer confirmations released after a Senate hold was lifted, within which Pleus's nomination and assignment were reported. | |
 8th Fighter Wing Commander Is Stepping Down | 2023-10-31T00:00:00+00:00 | | Coverage of a change-of-command at the 8th Fighter Wing, Kunsan Air Base — a unit Pleus previously commanded earlier in his career. | |
| New PACAF Commander Tapped in Pentagon Nominations | 2023-04-25T00:00:00+00:00 | | Reporting on a slate of Pentagon general officer nominations that included Pleus, as part of broader Pacific Air Forces leadership moves. | |
 Seventh Air Force Commander's Battlefield Circulation | 2022-05-19T00:00:00+00:00 | | A photo feature documenting Pleus's visits to units under his command across the Seventh Air Force area of responsibility. | |
 PHOTOS: Lt. General Comes Home to Talk to Superior Students | 2022-03-07T00:00:00+00:00 | | A hometown feature from Superior, Wisconsin, on Pleus's visit to speak with local students, with photographs and remarks on his path from the region into a career in the Air Force. | |
| Pleus: US Capitol Attack Reverberated on the Korean Peninsula | 2021-02-03T00:00:00+00:00 | | Reporting on Pleus's remarks during the AFA 'Air and Space Warfighters in Action' webinar, discussing how the January 6 Capitol attack was perceived by allies and adversaries in the Korea theater. | |
 Introducing Rolls: A Quick Glance Inside the Seventh Air Force Commander | 2020-09-22T00:00:00+00:00 | | A DVIDS profile introducing Pleus — call sign 'Rolls' — to the Seventh Air Force community shortly after he assumed command, including his own remarks on leadership and the Korea assignment. | |
| Pleus Takes Over at 7th Air Force | 2020-06-12T00:00:00+00:00 | | Coverage of Pleus assuming command of Seventh Air Force, including remarks delivered at the change-of-command ceremony. | |
 Seventh Air Force Hosts First Virtual Change of Command | 2020-06 | | Official press release on the virtual change-of-command ceremony at which Pleus assumed command of Seventh Air Force. | |
 Corporate Lessons for the DoD - Secretary of Defense Corporate Fellows' Perspective | 2009-05-01T00:00:00+00:00 | | Todays Fortune 500 companies must be agile, utilize pace, be financially flexible and continue to re-invent themselves in order to remain viable in our economy. Although the differences between corporate America and the Department of Defense DoD may seem vast in their philosophy and implementation, there are actually more similarities than differences. The driving factors in both worlds are still leadership, strategy, fiscal responsibility, and responsiveness, to name a few. This paper focuses on those areas the authors feel are beneficial for implementation into the DoD. The paper begins with an introduction of the Secretary of Defense Corporate Fellows Program and brief overview of each Fellows assignment. Next, the authors introduce Booz Allen Hamilton, Sun Microsystems, and Johnson Johnson providing an overview of companies in the program and giving the reader a baseline for reference. Next, the paper will walk through each corporate sponsor and will highlight those areas each Fellow observed that have the best opportunity for successful implementation in the DoD. Although the recommendations from each sponsor company are different, the authors feel this breadth provides a good cross section of ideas from all areas of corporate America. It must be noted that due to the non-disclosure agreements signed by all officers assigned to the Secretary of Defense Corporate Fellowship Program, the unfettered access to corporate sensitive information, and the legality associated with corporate proprietary information, the authors are unable to provide specific references for some of the data contained in this paper. | |
| Establish the Delta Military Operations Area Environmental Assessment | 2009-01-01T00:00:00+00:00 | | The United States Air Force USAF proposes to improve required training for Major Flying Exercises MFEs by establishing the Delta MOAs consisting of four connected MOAs which could be scheduled together or independently. The proposed action would establish connecting airspace to provide a realistic setting for MFEs. MFEs in Alaskan airspace provide aircrews with realistic simulated combat experience. The expanded capability of aircraft establishes the need for contiguous airspace to meet MFE training objectives. The Delta corridor separates the Yukon MOAs from ranges R-2202, R-2205, and R-2211, and the Fox and Eielson MOAs. At present, training aircraft must transition the Delta corridor by either climbing above Flight Level FL 180 18,000 feet above mean sea level MSL into the Delta Air Traffic Control Assigned Airspace ATCAA or funneling through the low-level Birch or Buffalo MOAs. The abrupt and segmented changes in altitude associated with the current MOA structure introduce pilot concerns about the boundary of the airspace and artificially constrain realistic threat-avoidance and attack run-in training at exactly the time pilots should be focused on combat conditions. The current airspace configuration requires pilots to train using non-optimal tactics in restricted training regimens. This continually reinforces negative habit patterns which can affect pilot survivability in combat. Current MFE training requirements cannot be achieved at the combat mission level with the existing ATCAA and MOA structure connecting the Yukon and FoxEielson Special Use Airspaces SUAs. The Delta MOAs collectively termed the Delta MOA in this Environmental Assessment EA would permit the northsouth training environment required by today s technology to meet current MFE training. The proposed Delta MOA would have a ceiling of FL180 at the existing Delta ATCAA and overlie the Birch and Buffalo MOAs. | |
| Establish the Delta Military Operations Areas Environmental Assessment Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska | 2009-01-01T00:00:00+00:00 | | Proposals and Actions This Environmental Assessment EA analyzes the potential environmental consequences of a proposal to improve required training for Major Flying Exercises MFEs by establishing the Delta Military Operations Areas MOAs as part of the YukonFox Complex. The YukonFox Complex consists of the Yukon, Fox, Eielson, Birch, and Buffalo MOAs associated Air Traffic Control Assigned Airspace ATCAAs ranges R-2202, R-2205, and R-2211 and the Delta ATCAA. The proposed Delta MOA would allow aircrews to train as they fight. Current MFE training cannot be achieved at the combat mission level with the existing ATCAA and MOA structure connecting the Yukon and FoxEielson Special Use Airspaces SUAs. At present, MFE training aircraft must transition the Delta corridor by either climbing above Flight Level FL 180 18,000 feet above mean sea level MSL into the Delta ATCAA or funneling through the low altitude Birch or Buffalo MOAs. The abrupt and segmented changes in altitude artificially constrain realistic threat-avoidance and attack run-in training precisely when pilots should be focused on combat conditions. The proposed Delta MOA permits use of current technology and tactics and provides all angle surface attacks, threat reaction tactics, air-to-air combat maneuvering, and joint air-ground operations in conjunction with ranges R-2202 and R-2205. The Delta MOA would overlie the Birch and Buffalo MOAs, have a ceiling of FL180 at the existing Delta ATCAA, have a floor of 10,000 feet MSL from Eielson Air Force Base AFB to the Birch MOA, and have a floor 3,000 feet above ground level AGL between the Birch and Buffalo MOAs. The Delta MOA would be activated not more than 6 MFEs a year not to exceed 60 days per year with 1.5-2.5 hour periods twice a weekday. | |
