Command Chief Master Sgt. Smith has first enlisted call

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Chase Hedrick
  • 14th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss --  Command Chief Master Sgt. Zef Smith, 14th Flying Training Wing, spoke about many topics concerning enlisted members at Columbus Air Force Base during his first enlisted call on May 26 at the Kaye Auditorium.

Airmanship, new opportunities for junior enlisted Airmen, kindergarten through 12th grade education options, honor guard information, changes in professional military education policies, updates to fitness policies and responsible use of social media sites were some of the topics that Chief Smith brought up during the brief.

To start off the enlisted call Chief Smith called up a junior Airman, a non-commissioned officer, and a senior non-commissioned officer to lead the attendants in the Airman's Creed. Chief Smith went on to give a little history on the creed, as well as to let those in the room know he expected all Airmen to know the Airman's Creed.

The brief continued with an overview and a brief explanation by Chief Smith of the wing commander's top five priorities for enlisted members; communication, deliberate development, compliance and standards, honor guard support, and taking care of Airmen and families.

A table for junior enlisted members at the pilot graduation breakfast is one new initiative receiving full support from the Commander of the 14th Flying Training Wing, Col. Roger Watkins. Every three weeks each group's senior enlisted leader will select one junior enlisted Airman to attend the breakfast. Each group's senior non-commissioned officer will also take turns attending.

The breakfast will consist of a buffet as well as a Columbus AFB mission and history briefing. All feedback surveys sent to attendees since the first breakfast on Apr. 30 have shown added value.

Another opportunity that is being introduced by Chief Smith and supported by Colonel Watkins for junior enlisted Airmen is the command chief shadow program. This program is designed to allow junior enlisted Airmen the opportunity to see what a day in the life of the command chief is like. Rotating among groups every three weeks, one group's senior enlisted leader will select one junior enlisted Airman from their group to shadow the chief for a day.

The day is scheduled to begin at 5:30 a.m. with physical training, and end at 9:30 p.m. with the pilot graduation dinner. Other items on the agenda include attending the pilot graduation ceremony, an office call with the command chief master sergeant's executive assistant, and visiting areas outside of the Airman's group.

Chief Smith continued on with the enlisted call and introduced a guest speaker, E J. Griffis Jr., School Liaison Officer here at Columbus AFB. Mr. Griffis spoke about the local education options for enlisted members at Columbus AFB, and some of the benefits of each. Mr. Griffis also presented information about the new school being built on top of Airport Hill, and how that will affect local enlisted.

Mr. Griffis spoke briefly about other school details including pre-schooling, transportation and volunteers. Mr. Griffis also gave advice on attending school meetings for military parents during duty hours, as well as communicating with incoming enlisted members to help them understand the educational climate.

The state accountability rating was another topic briefed by Mr. Griffis. After giving an explanation and some history about the rating in Mississippi, Mr. Griffis presented the ratings for both the Lowndes County and the Columbus Municipal school districts.

After the presentation on local education, Chief Smith brought up the topic of the base's honor guard. At the time of the enlisted call, the base honor guard had 19 members, but is looking for a team of 30. Chief Smith also encouraged supervisors to support Airmen involved in the base honor guard.

Chief Smith brought up several perks offered to base honor guard members, such as parking slots at various facilities around base, suites for those living in Montgomery Village and a newly approved incentive flight once a month.

Upcoming changes to the Air Force instruction about enlisted professional military education were brought up during the enlisted call by Chief Smith. Chief Smith went over changes he suggested to expect with the updated AFI such as waiver changes, an EPME ribbon, and credit for sister service EPME completion. Current passing physical training scores as a requirement for EPME courses should also be expected.

Chief Smith went on to note that the AFIs governing PT are also changing. Chief Smith gave an overview of PT score trends over the last few years, and the responses to them such as fitness cells, no more mandated PT during duty hours, and no overall 5's on evaluation performance report with a referral report. Chief Smith mentioned that other changes are being considered as well, such as patches that may be worn on PT gear for scores above 90.

One of the final topics Chief Smith discussed during the enlisted call was the use of social media. The chief reminded attendees of restrictions, bandwidth usage and some information on what not to release.

Chief Smith led the enlisted call to a close with several reminders including that the active shooter exercise is scheduled to take place on June 17. After the reminders Chief Smith opened the floor to questions and dismissed the attendees.