11th AF chief shares wisdom to Airmen

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Nora Anton
  • 354th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  Chief Master Sgt. Bob Moore, Eleventh Air Force command chief, took a trip to Eielson Aug. 14 to 17 for a base visit.

Chief Moore spoke of many upcoming changes soon to take place in our Air Force to include training, enlisted promotions, force shaping, our newest staff sergeant selects and the importance of leadership.

The importance of training, he said, is to prepare us to execute our mission in the most effective, and realistic way. Our most useful readiness training begins in basic military training and continues at our first duty stations.

"We are transforming our training regimen towards training our Airmen from the very beginning about warrior ethos," said the chief. "Airmen in basic training are now handed a weapon on day-one of training and are progressively becoming more qualified--it shows in their marksmanship scores."

"The graduation fitness standards that the Air Force has now implemented are now higher than any other service," he said. "And they have more warrior training than we have ever had before."

The chief said that trainees are becoming more combat-ready than Airmen prior; combat will become a second nature and the Air Force will be associated with combat along with the other branches.

He stressed the importance of being in shape as part of being well-trained and combat-ready.

"If we look out of shape, then we are out of shape," he said. "Our citizens base their impression of our military effectiveness and professionalism on how we look in uniform--it's important that we look fit as well as be fit."

The same mantra can be applied to new Airman Leadership School graduates, he said.

"We need to prove we can do those things we've been taught."

"PACAF bases are integrating and being the test sites for a new supervisory training program called the first-line supervisor qualification training program, that may affect new supervisors in the Air Force," Chief Moore said.

In a nutshell, the chief explained the new program will not only educate Airmen in ALS on how to effectively supervise, but will also provide qualification training after ALS to both provide hands-on training and certify graduates on how to succeed in a critical supervisory role of taking care of Airmen.

"A 41-percent promotion rate for staff sergeant is a great percentage," he said, "but it is hard to predict what our future promotion rate will be since it's based on actual vacancies; how many get out, retire or stay in."

Overall, he said he expects promotion rates to stay more or less steady. This year's rate for staff sergeants was certainly an increased rate.

Force shaping has become a way of life for the enlisted corps to help our Air Force transform the composition of our force to what we need to accomplish our mission down-range.

"We are continuing to attrit through a normal manner, but if you are in an overage career field, we'll ask that you be flexible and cross train into a field that is on the chronic critical skills list or consider performing a special duty such as a military training instructor," he said.

The chief takes a common-sense approach, "We are separating those people who are no longer certified to perform duty in their primary career field," the chief said. "If we are not able to do our mission down-range, then we shouldn't be serving in a warrior-based service."

On leadership, Chief Moore said that leaders of all ranks will be faced with tougher choices in coming years. We need to learn to navigate in an environment where we simply don't have enough resources to meet our Air Force's requirements.

"We all need to candidly communicate with our commanders when the mission is going to be adversely impacted so they can make the best decisions under their command."