Chief Tappana visits Tyndall, meets with Airmen

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Veronica McMahon
  • 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Airmen from all enlisted ranks and career fields gathered in the 325th Air Control Squadron auditorium for an Airman's Call to interact with the Air Education and Training Command Command Chief Master Sergeant, May 26 at Tyndall Air Force Base.

Chief Master Sgt. Robert Tappana visited Tyndall AFB to meet with Airmen and visit some of the base facilities to including the new fitness center and the new Horizons' Club, both in construction stages with projected completion dates this summer.

The chief spoke for more than an hour with the Airmen offering personal experiences and advice he has learned from years serving in the Air Force. He discussed how the Air Force currently has three generations serving and how they are all different from each other. Chief Tappana said we all must learn to effectively communicate with each other and work together to come up with some good ideas for the future Air Force.

"You are serving in what I believe is the most critical time of our Air Force," Chief Tappana said, highlighting the need for constant innovation and change in the Air Force. "(Airmen in the grades of) technical sergeant and below will need to come up with some good ideas for the future."

With today's economy, the chief suggested we work more effectively with the resources we have. He encouraged the audience to become masters of innovation.

"There are a lot of challenges in the Air Force right now," he continued. "The effective decisions will come from within the field."

Next the chief brought up a more emotional topic; suicide and the importance of taking care of one another.

"The enemy is outside the fence, everyone inside the fence is your friend," Chief Tappana said. "We can't afford to lose people to suicide."

Chief Tappana pointed out a sobering statistic that most of the Airmen who are dying are not getting killed in combat, but are dying back home in the U.S. from accidents and suicide.

He relayed some of his personal experiences and stressed the importance of asking co-workers and friends the simple question "are you okay?" and how far saying that can go in making a difference in someone's life. He said we need to start taking care of each other and looking out for what is actually important.

"Let's get excited about stuff that matters," Chief Tappana said. "Let's put bombs on target, let's take care of our people, lets choose wisely and expand our funds wisely. We have the opportunity to make the Air Force better than it is, we have a responsibility to make the Air Force better than it is."