CMSAF focuses on Airmen development

Published Jan. 25, 2008
By Senior Airman Christie Putz
375th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- The Air Force's top enlisted leader emphasized the importance of each Airman's contributions, as well as their responsibilities in the development of their Airmen and their own careers during an enlisted call at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., Jan. 18.

Echoing the sentiments of the three Air Force priorities, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Rodney J. McKinley related each of the key ideas to the audience:

Win the War on Terrorism

"This is something that is very, very real," Chief McKinley said of the ongoing war. "If the terrorists on 9/11 could have killed 30,000, or even 30 million, they would have. And they wouldn't have even blinked an eye."

After stressing the seriousness of the event, he addressed the importance of each Airman's involvement in the fight - stateside or deployed.

"A lot of time we think of the war in Afghanistan or Iraq, but what you are doing here is just as important," he said.

Everyone who raised their hand and said the oath has a responsibility to their duty, and that shouldn't be taken lightly, the chief explained.

Many Airmen stateside are taking that responsibility to heart, he said, as evidenced by the more than 50,000 Operation Noble Eagle missions flown in support of Homeland Defense.

"We need to make sure we defeat the enemy as an away game, not a home game," he added. "We don't want fighting on our own streets."

Develop & Take Care of Our Airmen

Another point of emphasis was the role of supervisors in the growth of new Airmen. He outlined the long and sometimes difficult process of recruiting Airmen and sending them through basic training and onto tech school, instilling the Air Force core values along the way.

"Sometimes I think where we miss the point is when Airmen get to their first duty stations," he said. "People tell them 'forget everything you learned in basic, this is the real Air Force,' but what we should instead be telling them is that those things you learned in basic are things that you will carry with you throughout your career."

Starting with proper sponsorship, supervisors need to make sure that they are doing everything they can to help their Airmen succeed, he said.

Upcoming changes to professional military education will also aid in this growth. According to the chief, basic military training will soon lengthen to eight and a half weeks from the current six and a half weeks.

Another project the Air Force is working on is to try and close the gap between Airman Leadership school and the NCO Academy. Currently, average attendance for ALS rests at four years, while the average Airman doesn't attend the NCOA until around 14 years.

"Some of our most important Airmen are our staff sergeants and tech sergeants," he said. "Ten years is far too long to have someone going without any PME."

His goal is to lower the average to 11 years.

Senior NCOs may soon see some changes to their schooling as well. Currently, attendance at the SNCO Academy is not required until the servicemember is preparing to promote to chief master sergeant.

"I think it's important that we get people in there as master sergeants," he said. "So we're working to change the rule so that you must take the course in residence before pinning on senior master sergeant."

Outside educational opportunities are also booming, and the number of servicemembers taking advantage of these changes is growing daily. This is evidenced by the unprecedented number of graduates of the Community College of the Air Force - reaching several thousand since just October.

"One of the things I have pushed since day one is letting Airmen go to college as soon as they come in," he said. "It's a benefit that we promise in recruiting, and we need to honor that promise."

Further helping Airmen reach their educational goals is the recently formed Air University Associate to Baccalaureate Cooperative Program, which consists of 25 schools fully online that have agreed to accept 100 percent of CCAF transfer credits for application to a bachelor's degree. Several thousand Airmen are already signed up for this program, he said.

Other topics of note relating to developing and caring for Airmen included improved childcare, taking care of the wounded and authorizing purple hearts to those who have been wounded in combat but have no readily apparent external injuries.

Modernization and Recapitalization of Aircraft and Equipment

A quick poll of the audience showed that only one person out of about 500 hundred Airmen in attendance drove a vehicle to work every day that was more than 25 years old.

"Every day we fly missions in aircraft that are even older than that, and we do it in combat," the chief said of the Air Force's aging aircraft fleet.

He praised the efforts and abilities of the Airmen maintaining these aircraft and flying these missions, but related that most parents wouldn't let their children drive cars that old, yet the Air Force flies these planes on a daily basis.

"We just cannot keep flying old aircraft," he said. "We've put patches on these for years and years and years. They're not the same aircraft we got off the line."

He expressed the need for a new tanker platform to replace the 50-year-old KC-135 Stratotanker, as well as a fifth generation fighter to remain ahead of other countries' developments.

"Just because we have air superiority now doesn't mean we shouldn't be looking down the road," he said.

Another platform the Air Force is trying to renew is the current search and rescue aircraft.

"In the Airman's Creed it says 'I will never leave an Airman behind'," the chief said, highlighting the need for the new aircraft.

While not regarded by most as equipment, the new Air Force service dress modifications also were high on the discussion list. Another poll of the audience showed that not many people were in favor of the addition of the belt on the heritage-style uniform, which is scheduled to make its debut in April or May.

The chief promised every Airman a voice regarding these changes in the first uniform board since 2005, which will be held electronically.

"We're also working on the PT uniform to give some better options," he said.