CMSAF Roy visits CAFB, offers advice to Airmen

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jacob Corbin
  • 14th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  The chief master sergeant of the Air Force visited here Jan. 25-26, speaking to Airman and answering questions while touring the base.

Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James Roy, the 16th to hold that position, arrived at Columbus AFB Jan. 25 alongside his wife Paula.

While here, the chief addressed key issues and challenges the Air Force is facing, as well as offering advice and mentorship to Airman of all ranks.

One issue the chief said he's currently addressing is how the Air Force develops its enlisted force. He said they're looking at a process called "deliberate development" to address this.

"We need to take the combat experience our Airman are receiving and the assignments they are getting today and couple that with education and training," the chief said. "We need to couple those things together. That is how we are going to develop the Airman of the future."

In addition, the chief said the Air Force is looking at how it trains its Airman prior to deployments.

"The fact of the matter is we are a nation at war, and it requires us to train those Airmen before they get into combat," Chief Roy said. The chief added that the Air Force needs to focus on reintegrating those Airmen when they return home from deployments.

Columbus AFB is a specialized undergraduate pilot training base and, as such, features a higher ratio of officers to enlisted members than the typical Air Force installation. The chief offered some advice to the small enlisted force here.

"The enlisted force at Columbus Air Force Base is very, very important to the mission here - growing the future pilots of our United States Air Force," the chief said. "Our enlisted Airmen here have a dynamic piece of that because they have the chance to meet these young Airmen, these young pilots, very early in their career. They can have a huge impact on these young aviators of the future."

The chief also advised today's Airman to get involved in professional organizations, help develop themselves and take advantage of the numerous educational opportunities afforded to them. But the chief's biggest piece of advice was a very simple one.

"Be the best Airman that you can be," he said. "If you are a technician out on the airfield, be the absolute best technician on the airfield. If you are working in the comptroller flight, be the absolute best comptroller. That is what you need to do: focus on being the best Airman that you can be."

Chief Roy was command chief master sergeant at Columbus AFB from 2000-2002 and said the base has changed a great deal since he was last here, but one thing hasn't changed.

"The community here is one that is absolutely one of the best I've seen," Chief Roy said. "The community leaders support the military. The community in general earnestly likes having the military here. They like being associated with them."