Chief Pfingston laid to rest at Arlington

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. J.G. Buzanowski
  • Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs
WASHINGTON (AFPN) --  Former Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Gary Pfingston was laid to rest July 6 at Arlington National Cemetery.

The 10th CMSAF, an Evansville, Ind., native, lost his battle with cancer June 23. He served as the highest ranking enlisted Airman from August 1990 to October 1994.

"Chief Pfingston was the epitome of a great Airman and he will be missed," said current Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Rodney McKinley. "It's appropriate his final resting place is in Arlington, where so many of our nation's heroes are honored."

A B-52 Stratofortress performed a flyover for the ceremony in tribute to Chief Pfingston, a former B-52 crew chief at Castle Air Force Base, Calif., and Plattsburgh AFB, N.Y.

His career also included tours overseas as well as a stint as a military training instructor at Lackland AFB, Texas. He went on to become the commandant of the MTI academy and eventually served as a first sergeant before becoming a senior enlisted adviser.

On Aug. 1, 1990, he became the chief master sergeant of the Air Force. His focus was on caring for Airmen while the Air Force was dealing with drawdown and budget issues. After concerns over basic allowance for subsistence arose during increased deployments to support the first Gulf War, he worked to continue BAS for Airmen living in field conditions, as well as toward increasing Servicemen's Group Life Insurance benefits.

Chief Pfingston was a regular speaker at Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy graduation ceremonies and other CMSAF panel discussions.

Throughout his career, Chief Pfingston believed in the value of good leadership.

"You manage things and you lead people," he said in a 2006 Air Force News Service interview. "You do that by being up front, honest, sincere and visible. I've always felt strongly that you can't ask somebody to do something that either you won't do, or that you haven't done someplace along the line before. It's not 'do as I say, not as I do' -- it just doesn't work that way." 

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