Chief McKinley updates Airmen on Air Force priorities

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
  • U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center Public Affairs
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AFPN) --  Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Rodney J. McKinley recently reaffirmed the Air Force's three top priorities as winning the war on terrorism, developing and caring for Airmen and their families, and recapitalization and modernization.
 
The Air Force's top enlisted Airman then spelled out where the service is now and what's being done for the future.

Regarding the war on terrorism, Chief McKinley said he is reminded each day of the dedication Airmen put forth in the fight.

"Every day, the first e-mail I read is about the (Air Force) casualties of the day," Chief McKinley said. "It's not a pleasant way to start the day, but it's a reminder that we truly are at war.  Airmen are in the fight."

The chief said he's also reminded each day of the sacrifices American servicemembers makes in the war on terrorism. 

"Our office at the Pentagon has a view of Arlington Cemetery," he said. "Nearly every day someone is buried in Arlington Cemetery. This reminds me of the sacrifices of our veterans and servicemembers. So if anyone has questions about whether or not we're really involved in a war right now, we are involved in war."
 
Chief McKinley said he's thankful to each and every Airman for what he or she does in fighting the war, and also thankful for the support of families.

"I think about what Airmen do for our country and I remember their families," the chief said. "I know about the number of times Airmen deploy, and what their family goes through. Airmen are on my mind when I testify to Congress, when I talk to Gen. (T. Michael) Moseley (Air Force chief of staff) and Secretary (of the Air Force Michael W.) Wynn."
 
Since taking his current post, Chief McKinley said the Air Force has taken many steps forward to improve Airman development. The quality of today's Airman starts right in the recruiting office, he said. 

"We have fewer recruiters than any other branch of service," Chief McKinley said. "Our recruiters are doing a fantastic job meeting our goals to recruit the right amount of people."

Once new recruits make it to basic training, the chief said they get top-notch training that gets better as time goes on.

He said trainees currently experience six and a half weeks of training, but by October 2008, basic training time extends to eight and a half weeks. He added that during the recent tri-ennial BMT review, the group asked for one additional block of instruction.

"We should have one block in there where we teach the rank structure from each of the other services," Chief McKinley said. "This would help start, from the beginning, an ability to provide new Airmen some rank recognition to facilitate interaction with the other services."

Updates and goals are also being looked at in all levels of professional military education. For instance, the chief referred to an effort in closing the gap between in-residence attendance at Airman Leadership School and the NCO Academy.

"Right now, the average time for attending ALS is four and a half years," Chief McKinley said. "The average time for attending the NCO Academy is 14 and a half years. I would like to see that gap where we start going to the NCO Academy at around the 10- or 11-year mark."

Chief McKinley said the Air Force is looking at having more senior NCOs attend the Senior NCO Academy as master sergeants. 

"Right now the average time to attend the Senior NCO Academy is 19 years in service," Chief McKinley said. "That may be a little late. Our Airmen attending the Academy should be master sergeants because the training given at the academy will benefit them more at this earlier time in their careers.  Senior NCO Academy should be done before Airmen sew-on senior master sergeant." 

Chief McKinley talked extensively about the importance of Airmen's families and the impact families have on decisions from retainability to deployments.

"When we talk about developing Airmen and taking care of their families, we can't forget the family," Chief McKinley said. "We have Airmen who deploy for long periods of time. They go time and time again and the family is left behind. We need to make sure when our Airmen deploy that we stay in touch with the family and keep them a part of our military community." 

During his time with the Airmen, Chief McKinley highlighted the fact that the average age of the Air Force air fleet is 24 years. He compared it to a person driving a 24-year-old car and all the challenges a person would have maintaining an older car.

"We would not think about driving cars that old because cars that old have corrosion problems, spare parts are difficult to find and the car is harder and more expensive to maintain," Chief McKinley said. "Well, that's essentially the same issue we have with our aircraft."

Chief McKinley said despite aircraft age challenges, Airmen are making the difference. "In the last 10 years, maintenance on aircraft has gone up 87 percent. However, last year was the safest flying year in the history of our Air Force. That's a direct testament to the dedication and professionalism of our Airmen."
 
The chief credits maintainers, aircrew and Airmen around the world for the safe flying year success and that as force shaping and other initiatives help the Air Force "pay the bills," strong leadership will play a vital role. 

"If people ask me if to pinpoint one thing, I would say the number one concern of the enlisted force is the downsizing of the Air Force," Chief McKinley said. 

With continued downsizing, Chief McKinley said Airmen in leadership positions need to look at this as a leadership challenge. He said it's not about doing more with less - it's about doing less with less.

"There's a lot on our plate; that's a leadership challenge," Chief McKinley said. "What is going to get us where we're going is strong leadership. So you, as Airmen, have to be engaged. We can't do business the way we've always done business. We are going to have less people and we've got to find ways of doing less things." 

Staying informed, thinking lean and working hard to improve the Air Force will help Airmen build a better Air Force for the future, Chief McKinley said. He noted that high quality, smart Airmen will ultimately carry the day.

"You should be very, very proud of yourself for the incredible job you're doing," Chief McKinley said. "You're doing outstanding work and we're all very proud of you."

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