Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force addresses top three AF priorities

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Timothy R. Capling and Tech. Sgt. Chyenne A. Adams
  • 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Rodney J. McKinley spoke about current Air Force issues to nearly 200 Tyndall Air Force Base Airmen during an enlisted call Friday.

To open the enlisted call, Chief McKinley and every Airman present stood and recited the Airman's Creed -- emphasizing the importance of the creed to every Airman serving in today's Air Force.

The Air Force's top enlisted leader then reviewed the service's current top three priorities: fighting and winning the war on terrorism, developing and caring for Airmen and their families, and recapitalizing and modernizing the Air Force air, space and cyberspace assets.

"The important thing to remember about the Global War On Terrorism is that it's not against a particular community, like some mistakenly believe," said the chief. "This war is a fight against terrorists... and those that hold ill will towards America our interest and ideals."

When the chief moved on to the subject of modernizing the fleet, he used a pointed example of senior leadership's views on the subject, explaining how the current aircraft average age is 24.5 years old, with some tankers more than 50 years old.

"Most of you would not drive a vehicle that's 24 plus years old and that has been through as much as some of these aircraft have been through. It just wouldn't be safe," he said. "And yet that's what we're asking our Airmen to do every day when we ask them to fly on these planes. Some of these planes have been flying since Eisenhower was president -- this is the oldest fleet ever in Air Force history."

The senior leader spent the majority of the time delving into developing and caring for Airman -- covering topics ranging from challenges recruiters in the field face while continuing to enlist top-notch individual's into the Air Force despite no changes being made to the Air Force's strict recruiting standards; to the need for more funding to care for our wounded veterans and research current health crises such as post-traumatic stress disorder and severe brain trauma.

"The war is real, and I must say that it really drives it home to me working at the Pentagon and seeing Arlington National Cemetery every day," said the chief. "And when you come across people underneath the overpasses and on the streets and then find out they're homeless veterans, that's disturbing and unacceptable. It's our job to make sure that none of us end up under the overpasses. Our job to ensure that every Soldier, Sailor, Airman and Marine is taken care of after sacrificing so much for this country."

The Chief went on to discuss how vital it is to take care of not only the service member, but the families who also sacrifice much. He briefed about current initiatives in the works -- including military dependent students not having to pay out-of-state tuition and dependent children being able to transfer from one school district to another and stay in the same grade-level. He emphasized these two things as examples of how families should not be penalized for their military member's service every time they have to go through a permanent-change-of station move.

The Chief also stressed the importance of education for active-duty members and how awesome it was to see Community College of the Air Force degrees becoming more important to Airmen. Free DANTES and CLEP testing is also an extremely under-utilized educational benefit for those in uniform, according to the Chief.

"Supporting our Airman getting an education will not only make them a better Airman, but also a better United States citizen," he said. "There were 17,456 CCAF degrees awarded last year and we're on track to surpass that this year -- I'm extremely proud of our Airmen's educational efforts."

He continued addressing the importance of today's evolving enlisted force by touching on how to be better involved with developing and caring for the younger Airmen of today's military.

"Everyone is aware these are challenging times in our Air Force today, and we're facing personnel and budget changes," said the CMSAF. "However, a lot of things we could be doing don't cost anything. There's no funding involved in saying 'thank you' to each other, no cost for having unit pride, or taking pride in our uniform and using proper customs and courtesies."

Supervisors and experienced peers are extremely important in teaching these lessons, according to the Chief, because without them Airman may fail.

"I really believe caring is the answer," he said. "Get to know your Airman. I'm not saying coddle them, because every Airman should be held to standards, but care about them. Every Airman should be held accountable, but there is no more important asset than our Airman."

CMSAF McKinley wrapped up by touching on various military uniform concerns. Addressing the Airmen Battle Uniform, he said a lighter weight version was being worked on and that concerns with the green suede boots are being researched. Changes to the Air Force physical training uniform, including new versions of the shorts, pants, and the new heritage service dress uniform are also in the works.

During his visit, the 15th Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force -- himself a 1987 graduate of the Tactical Air Command NCO Academy at Tyndall AFB -- also spoke at the Chief Master Sgt. Paul W. Airey Non-Commissioned Officer Academy graduation, talked with new Air Force enlistees at the First Term Airman's Center and visited Team Tyndall members around the base during an installation tour.

Before departing Tyndall AFB, Chief McKinley sat down with 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs office for a question and answer session to address issues affecting those serving in today's Air Force:

Public Affairs: What would you say to Tyndall's Airmen to help them become more aware of the importance of their day-to-day mission?

Chief McKinley: I would tell every Airman in the Air Force to not take the job they do for granted. Every job is important. Every Airman needs to follow all proper procedures, technical data and use the training that they've had in their job to make sure they complete all tasks to the best of their ability.

Public Affairs: As a base dedicated to training expeditionary airpower experts, what should instructors and students each be focused on?

Chief McKinley: Instructors and student should focus on combat requirements. If we're training people for the expeditionary environment, we should be training them based upon the requirements of where they're going to go and to make sure we are all properly organized, trained and equipped to complete our mission.

Public Affairs: What changes in the Air Force can Airmen look forward to in the years to come?

Chief McKinley: We'll continue to focus on recapitalizing and modernizing our Air Force. I think that's something all Airmen should look forward to because as we modernize our inventory, our assets will require less maintenance, while at the same time make us more capable for the future. I think that's going to be a great benefit to our Airmen because they'll have the opportunity to fly new tankers and combat search and rescue helicopters. We're also going to continue to work on educational opportunities for the enlisted force and improve the quality of professional military education to help with enlisted force development.

Public Affairs: With more than 6,500 Airmen now assigned on "in lieu of" taskings, and with the changing roles of today's mission, what should take priority when it comes to shaping or molding Airmen both old and new?

Chief McKinley: Developing our Airmen starts at the recruiter's officer. It starts with recruiting the right Airmen to join our Air Force. We have incredible Airmen. We have not lowered our standards when it comes to recruiting Airmen. We provide them with a much-improved Basic Military Training, which will be extended from 6 ½ weeks to 8 ½ weeks soon. We instill the warrior ethos into all of our Airmen, which will continue through technical school. We have to continue to find ways to keep that warrior ethos with our Airmen at their duty assignments.

We are not trying to turn Airmen into Soldiers or Marines, but just like in our Airmen's Creed, it says, "I am an American Airman, I am a warrior." Our job in the Air Force is to fly, fight and win. Whether that's air, space or cyber space, we are warriors. By instilling a warrior ethos, no matter where we go and no matter what we're tasked to do, we will maintain a warrior mindset.

Public Affairs: Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Chief McKinley: I'd like to tell all the Airmen at Tyndall and the NCO Academy here that it was a true pleasure to visit. I thoroughly enjoy every visit at Tyndall. To all the active duty, reserve, guard and civilians: your Air Force thanks you for the tremendous job you're doing to support our nation.