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Kadena senior NCOs honored at recognition ceremony, promote to highest enlisted rank

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Hailey Staker
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  Six senior NCOs celebrated achieving the Air Force's top enlisted rank during a chief recognition ceremony March 6 at the Rocker NCO Club here.

The six Airmen recognized were Chief Master Sgts. Kenneth Carter, 82nd Reconnaissance Squadron, and Robert Chacon, 18th Wing Erwin Professional Military Education Center; as well as Senior Master Sgts. William Horay, 961st Aircraft Maintenance Unit; Robert Miller, 909th Aircraft Maintenance Unit; Daniel Moss, 18th Civil Engineer Squadron; and Michael Stockdale, 320th Special Tactics Squadron.

More than 200 family, friends and coworkers attended the ceremony, which included a symbolic candle lighting ceremony and a speech from 18th Wing Commander Brig. Gen. James Hecker.

"We're honoring six chief master sergeants tonight," Hecker said. "Everyone knows they are the top one percent of the Air Force, and guess what you get now, you probably get your own office, a pay raise, and that coveted parking spot. But realize that you should be humbled by that; making chief is not about a parking spot."

Hecker said the honor of promoting to chief master sergeant brings many responsibilities, such as leading a group of Airmen, whether it is 100 or 1,000.

"It's all about serving your Airmen," Hecker said. "The reason you made chief was because you have done that and now you need to continue doing that."

Hecker added that the number one thing he looks for in a chief is their ability to be humble.

"Be humbled by the fact that you get to lead Airmen, but that is an honor," the commander said. "That is something that the Air Force has given you as a gift and you need to make sure that you take that responsibility to heart and you treat every single Airman underneath you like they were your son or your daughter. You need to make sure you take care of them."

Hecker went on to explain what he expects out of the chief master sergeants below him. Of those, loyalty ranked number one in a list of expectations for the highest enlisted rank.
"Don't be loyal to a fault," Hecker said. "If (leadership) is screwing something up, you need to tell us about it. If your boss makes a decision that you don't agree with, you would not be loyal to your boss if you didn't say, 'hey, I don't agree with that, and here's why.' It's not just doing what your boss wants. It's confronting it; tell them when they're doing something wrong. People aren't going to tell chiefs or colonels when they're doing something wrong, so you need to hold your boss accountable."

The wing commander also spoke about how chiefs need to care for their Airmen, and correct them when they are doing something wrong.

"People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care," Hecker said. "Once they know that you care, they will do anything for you."

Hecker added that chief master sergeants should correct their Airmen when they are doing something wrong and continue being themselves, rather than changing due to a change in rank.

"I'll leave you with what I really look for in a chief, and that is having a balanced life," Hecker said. "A balanced life is not working 18 hours a day, 6 days a week and sending emails at midnight. Your Airmen want somebody that's happy, somebody that is going to take care of them, somebody that is going to look after them. So get out of the office, be seen at recitals for your kids, and be seen at football games and basketball games.

"Be physically fit," Hecker continued. "Right now you're in a position where you will be kicking people out of the Air Force because they are not physically fit. When you sign that paperwork, are you going to be nervous because maybe you're not as physically fit as you should be or are you going to sign it saying, 'hey, this is the right thing to do, here are the standards and I have no reservation and I don't think that I have a problem, and no one is going to call me out for it because I'm not fit.'"

Hecker ended with reminding the new chief promotees to be active leaders who go out and interact with their Airmen, rather than sitting behind a computer, leading through email. He also said to have an open door policy, and help those who come to them with problems.

"If you start getting frustrated because you have an open door policy and people come in and basically intrude on your time from doing email, you're wrong," Hecker said. "Your job now is not doing email; your job is solving other people's problems. Once you figure out that your job is dealing with those people coming through the door and not answering email, you're doing the right thing."

Of the 2,023 senior master sergeants eligible for promotion to chief, 400 were selected; a 19.77 percent selection rate, Air Force Personnel Center officials announced Nov.15, 2013. Of those 400 selected for promotion, six senior master sergeants were chosen from Kadena Air Base.