CMSAF addresses top issues

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Deanna McClay
  • Air Mobility Command Public Affairs
DALLAS (AFPN) --  Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Gerald R. Murray addressed hundreds of troops attending the 2004 Airlift/Tanker Association Symposium on Oct. 29, an event he has been unable to attend in years past.

Chief Murray gave his insight on three main topics he said he feels are the backbone of the enlisted corps: Airmen taking care of Airmen, war readiness and developing Airmen.

Most importantly, the chief addressed the issue of Airmen taking care of Airmen.

“With all the priorities the secretary of the Air Force has, he is most focused on suicide prevention and sexual assault,” Chief Murray said. “This grates on the boss, it grates on me, and it should grate on all of you.

“In the month of November, the senior leaders have asked for a focused down-day, command by command, to take time to look each other in the face and make sure we understand how important the lives of our Airmen are. Too many Airmen make a permanent solution to a temporary problem,” he said of the recent upsurge in suicides in the Air Force.

A part of that focus is face-to-face interaction on a daily basis with co-workers, he said.

“We have to pull ourselves away from the computer and e-mail and get out every day so that we can understand what our Airmen go through,” he said. “The fact that our [working environment] has changed means we need to help our Airmen adapt to that change.”

In talking about readiness, the chief cited Airmen who are not well known, but who are heroes just the same -- Airmen who have been injured or killed in the line of duty.

“I tell you this because this is the cost of our service today,” he said. “These [Airmen] are heroes among us.”

In light of the number of Airmen who now see combat in deployed locations, Chief Murray said policies have been reviewed and, in some cases, rewritten.

“Things are different today [than in past wars],” he said. “We certainly never had 2,000 Airman working with the Army on convoy operations and fuel stops. What we must prepare Airmen for is different than what we’ve prepared them for in the past.”

Besides the policies on training Airmen before they deploy, some of the policies regarding their return also have changed.

“Right now, we have people returned to full duty that would not have been in the past,” he said. “The secretary [of the Air Force] has asked us to look for civilian employment for those who may not be able to work in military employment so we can continue to offer opportunities. It’s a new way to give to those who have (given) so much.”

The chief said he also recognizes how busy Air Mobility Command Airmen are, and that often, crews do not fall squarely into the air and space expeditionary force system.

“Some of you in Air Mobility Command don’t know what an AEF cycle is,” he said. “Those (working) on the C-130 [Hercules], C-5 [Galaxys] and the tanker fleets -- you’re [involved with] all AEFs.”

The chief said that meeting the new challenges of the war requires more Airman development and a total team effort.

“No longer can we have any part of our team -- officers, enlisted or civilians -- not looked at deliberately in [figuring out] how and when to apply education and training and experience ...” he said. “We want you to have the very best leadership you can possibly have.”

In looking at Airman development, the chief said there are some changes scheduled to take place besides the changes already in effect.

He outlined the professional military education schedule, which involves all ranks. From chief master sergeants to airmen, there is a PME program to strengthen leadership skills and teach new ones.

“We’re getting back to PME,” he said. “Every newly promoted master sergeant will attend a three- to five-day seminar to make sure they’re ready to step into that role.

“Then we have staff sergeants and tech sergeants; in addition to the Airman Leadership School they’ve already attended, ... they, too, will get training in their work-centers to make sure they are the type of leader they need to be.”

The chief also talked about the importance of a college education.

“Education has shown itself to be one of the greatest tools of growing this professional noncommissioned officer corps,” Chief Murray said.

“If you’re a technical sergeant and don’t have your (Community College of the Air Force) degree, I would encourage you to work on it,” he said. “We’re discussing … making the CCAF degree a required part of professional development. I’m not sure if there are going to be points [for promotion] associated with it, but it may be that you won’t be promoted to master sergeant [without a CCAF degree].”

Chief Murray told the Airmen that they will go down in someone’s “history book”; it is just a matter of how they will be remembered.

“[There are] senior NCOs that you don’t find in history books, like John Levitow, but they will always be in my history book as people who have shaped me, and [made me] who I am in today’s Air Force,” he said. “I would ask you: whose history book are you in? I hope you’re in a history book of an Airman whom you’ve had a positive effect on and not a negative one.” (Courtesy of AMC News Service)