News

Candler champions 'team like no other'

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Chase Hedrick
  • 14th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  The Commandant, United States Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy, spoke to members of the 14th Flying Training Wing and the annual award nominees Feb. 20-21 during his first visit to Columbus AFB.

Chief Master Sergeant Kevin Candler visited the base as the guest speaker for the 14th FTW 2012 Annual Awards Banquet on Feb. 21. Highlighting the annual nominees' accomplishments and impact on the wing, major command and Air Force, he argued for the unique excellence of Team BLAZE.

"If you're not sitting there just smiling like crazy because you're proud to be part of this team you probably need to leave right now, I'll just put it that way. You should be as ecstatic as possible to be an American airman, civilian or military, especially at Team BLAZE," said Candler. "Nominees, no matter what happens tonight, we are proud to be part of your team; a team that Produces Pilots, Advances Airmen and Feeds the Fight like no other!"

Recognizing the performance of those who went above and beyond and their individual accomplishments, Candler reminded the nominees to not forget those who helped them to where they stand today.

"Say thank you to your co-workers, your family and your friends. Say thank you for helping me get along, helping me get to this level or just for being a good Airman in general," he said. "If you do nothing else you just need to say thank you because we don't say that enough to the people who are behind the scenes that, to me, sacrifice just as much to me as we do every day."

Earlier during his visit the chief master sergeant toured the base, taking time to sit down and speak with members of the wing's enlisted force.

"As I sat down with the junior enlisted, NCO corps and SNCO corps I was lucky enough to also walk around the base to visit a few folks, and I'll tell you I became very impressed for a couple different reasons," said Candler. "One there was not one person that I came across who had a negative attitude or a negative complaint about something. Second is just looking at the results of your CUI and talking through those with your Airmen and NCOs and so forth, I'm impressed at how engaged they were and how engrossed they were in making sure they made their wing proud."