Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James A. Roy talks with Airmen and civilians at the financial services center, Oct. 21, 2009, during a two-day visit to Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D. Chief Roy discussed the importance of their finance and travel work to the Air Force during his visit. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Corey Hook)
Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James A. Roy talks with Airmen and civilians at the financial services center, Oct. 21, 2009, during a two-day visit to Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D. Chief Roy discussed the importance of their finance and travel work to the Air Force during his visit. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Corey Hook)
Airman 1st Class Tiara Taylor, 28th Force Support Squadron food services journeyman, hands breakfast to Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James A. Roy, Oct. 22, 2009, during his two-day visit to Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D. Chief Roy ate breakfast with recent graduates of Airmen Leadership School and discussed various high-interest Air Force topics. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Corey Hook)
Col. Jeffrey Taliaferro (right), 28th Bomb Wing commander, bids farewell to Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James A. Roy, Oct. 22, 2009, following his two-day visit to Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D. During the visit, Chief Roy met with Airmen at different venues throughout the base and discussed education, training and deployments and other important Air Force topics. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Corey Hook)
by Airman 1st Class Jarad A. Denton
28th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
10/23/2009 - ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE, S.D. (AFNS) -- The 16th chief master sergeant of the Air Force visited Ellsworth Air Force Base Oct. 21 and 22 to tour the installation and speak with Ellsworth members about education, deployments, fitness and family support.
"We are a nation at war," Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James A. Roy said during an enlisted call. "We have to think of ourselves as a coalition, not just separate branches."
Chief Roy spoke about how much he learned from working alongside coalition forces. He also told Airmen here that servicemembers in other nations admire the opportunities and benefits afforded to members of the U.S. Air Force. However, with those benefits comes a responsibility to the overall mission of the Air Force and the professional development of its Airmen.
"What a great opportunity to host Chief Roy and have him connect with our Airmen," said Col. Jeffrey Taliaferro, 28th Bomb Wing commander. "It was a unique pleasure to find out what's going on in Washington, D.C., and to have him get a view of the incredible work our Airmen are doing to put bombs on target."
According to Chief Roy, the training and education of Airmen is important for the Air Force to complete its mission to fly, fight and win.
"We don't do anything by ourselves anymore," he said. "To succeed as a coalition force, we need enlisted men and women to focus on their training and education."
Chief Roy encouraged Airmen to focus on their professional military education, technical and on-the-job training, as well as off-duty education.
"We have some of the best professional education opportunities, for our enlisted force, in the world," he said. "We need to continue to make those opportunities available to Airmen when they need it."
Chief Roy emphasized the importance of continued leadership training to close the gap between Airmen Leadership School and the Non-Commissioned Officer Academy.
"(NCOs are) our first-line supervisors," Chief Roy said. "They need as much education as we can give them."
He made it a point to talk about the responsibility of NCOs in developing their Airmen.
"You are responsible for training those who come behind you," he said.
Along with reinforcing training and education goals for Airmen, Chief Roy spent time talking about providing relief for stressed career fields.
"After we determine where there are stressed career fields, we need focused recruiting, and the promotion of highly qualified Airmen," he said. "Those Airmen will bring an increased level of experience and education to their career field from the training and education they have received throughout their career. That level of excellence will continue as future Airmen strive to improve themselves and support the Air Force mission."
Chief Roy also spoke about furthering the Air Force mission by examining the effectiveness of existing programs that benefit the Air Force family. During a lunch, he ate with representatives from various councils, including the Enlisted Spouses Council.
Because 2009 has been designated the Year of the Air Force Family, Chief Roy said he has been communicating with members of Congress about revitalizing family support programs to assist Air Force family members.
"We're trying to look at all things related to family," he said. "If we take care of our people, then the people take care of the mission."
During a tour of the base he saw the facilities and programs available to family members, first-hand.
"We were very proud to show Chief Roy the Airmen, the capabilities of the base and the programs and facilities at Ellsworth," said Chief Master Sgt. Clifton G. Cole, 28BW command chief. "He was able to see how the services we offer help Airmen and their families further the mission here."
"This is my first time visiting Ellsworth, and I'm very impressed with the installation," Chief Roy said.
In addition to touring the base, Chief Roy worked out at the fitness center during his visit. Afterwards, he spoke in depth about the issues surrounding the new physical training test.
"The idea is to maintain a constant state of readiness and fitness," he said. "The new PT test is about developing a fitness lifestyle."
He encouraged Airmen to educate themselves on the requirements of the new PT test, so that nothing will come as a surprise to them when they are tested.
After lunch, Chief Roy concluded his visit to Ellsworth by talking about future challenges for the enlisted force. He wanted Airmen to understand the importance of following technical orders and complying with Air Force Instructions.
"The biggest challenge for the enlisted force is to remain focused on the mission," he said. "We have been running hard for a long time, and we need to make sure we don't become complacent with what we do."
Comments
10/28/2009 6:11:33 PM ET I entered the AF in 1993. In 1996 I went to ALS. It wasn't until 12 years later that I went to NCOA. Something just doesn't seem right about that. While there are some more enrichment opportunities out there than there used to be Chief McFaddin is right...there needs to be more official ways to bridge the gap. I would've loved to have an NCO leadership school as a SSgt and honestly most the young SSgts today are in dire need of it. Most are not ready to be thrown into a supervisory role yet we're putting them there. I wholehearted agree with Chief McFaddin and wish more thought like he did about taking care of the Airmen.
MSgt Dave DeRemer, Scott AFB
10/27/2009 6:31:15 PM ET I joined in 1978 and we had FIVE LEVELS of PME before McPeak broke our PME and other things. I had two levels of PME prior to my Four Year Point. Today most of our troops take nearly 48 months to get their first PME in ALS. As I stated in my first input we need ALS at the 3 year mark SSgts to a New NCO Leadership School TSgts to NCO Academy and MSgts to SNCO Academy. I got to look behind the curtain and saw the Double-Standard in many things from Punishment to PME This is Dead WrongCMSgt Buddy McFaddin Retired with Character and Honor and Never Sold Out a Troop in My Life and Never Will.
CMSgt Buddy McFaddin, Manchester Tennessee
10/27/2009 3:01:08 PM ET Not exactly true, Chief. ASBC and SOS take up less than 10 weeks of an officer's career and the overwhelming majority of officers who complete ACSC and AWC do so in seminar or correspondence... that is in addition to their normal duty schedule.
Mark, NE
10/26/2009 10:21:32 PM ET USAF Officers have four levels of PME including Air and Space Basic Course, Squadron Officer School, Air Command and Staff College, and Air War College. The total time for them to attend is nearly two years which is 24 months for those on the short bus. Our enlisted corps has only three levels of PME for a total of 17 weeks of training. Like I said, a monkey can see this injustice. If this is not a Double-Standard for Officers versus Enlisted Im an astronaut. CMSgt Buddy McFaddin Retired with Character and Honor and Never Sold Out
CMSgt Buddy McFaddin, Manchester Tennessee
10/26/2009 2:09:43 PM ET SrAs already complete ALS, TSgts already complete NCOA, and the AF has just initiated a policy change requiring MSgts complete SNCOA prior to sewing on SMSgt. Add in the variety of other mentorship opportunities for enlisted members like NCO professional development courses, base Top-3-sponsored courses, base career assistance advisor-sponsored courses, etc. We're just about where Chief McFaddin wants us to be. I don't understand his concern.
Bill, Kansas
10/24/2009 12:29:12 PM ET When are we going to fix Enlisted PME and give the Enlisted Corps one-third the time the Officer Corps gets for PME We need four-levels of PME. Airman Leadership School at the 3 year point, NCO Leadership School for SSgts, NCO Academy for TSgts, and SNCO Academy for MSgts. This can be done with 20 weeks of training compared to more than 80 weeks the Officer Corps gets. A blind monkey can see this injustice. Chief Out but never Sold Out and Retired with Character and Honor.
