RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
Hundreds of Airmen from across San Antonio filled the seats of the base theater at Randolph Air Force Base as it played host to the Command Chief Master Sgt.'s Panel portion of the Air Education and Training Command Commanders, Command Chiefs and Spouses conference here Oct. 19-23.
Thirty-seven AETC command chiefs were in attendance, five of whom conducted the panel, fielding questions and addressing the concerns of their Airmen.
"The purpose of today's discussion is for us to hear what's on your minds," said Chief Master Sgt. Robert Tappana, AETC command chief. "Our purpose is to address the various aspects of leadership and how we can make a difference in the lives of our Airmen."
Hot on the attendees' plate was the much-discussed topic of Air Force physical fitness, as only one day earlier Lt. Gen. Richard Newton, deputy chief of staff for Manpower and Personnel at Headquarters U.S. Air Force in Washington, D.C., signed and distributed new physical fitness uniform guidance. The chiefs fielded Airmen's concerns about the new Air Force Instruction, which will increase testing to twice a year, and introduce the new physical fitness standards beginning Jan. 1, 2010.
"PT is a personal issue and an individual's own responsibility," stated Chief Master Sgt. Linus Jordan, 2nd Air Force command chief. "Individual Airmen need to be held accountable for their own success or failure."
Chief Tappana followed Chief Jordan's response after one Airman expressed his concern for providing his Airmen time during the work day to conduct physical fitness, once the new policy takes effect in January. He replied, "Physical fitness is a personal responsibility, but every supervisor at every echelon of leadership has the inherent responsibility to ensure he or she provides their Airmen with every tool they need to be successful, including time during the duty day for PT."
While physical fitness may have been near the top of everyone's list, other Airmen wanted the chiefs to weigh in on topics like how to approach a superior with criticism and how to curb the "inflated" enlisted performance report system.
"Offering constructive criticism to a superior is probably the most difficult thing an Airman must do," replied Chief Master Sgt. Vance Clarke, Air Force Recruiting Service command chief. "But if you approach people with an 'I care about you' attitude, you can talk to anyone."
Later, when asked to talk about the EPR system, Chief Clarke emphasized to the audience that it's the supervisor's responsibility to always set clear expectations for Airmen and consistently provide them with feedback.
As the hour came to a close, the final question from the audience came from one senior noncommissioned officer wanting to know if Airmen can expect to see a shift in the timeline when he or she will attend the NCO and the Senior NCO Academies.
Chief Tappana explained, Air Force leaders are looking to alter the current timeline when Airmen attend Professional Military Education schools like the NCO and Senior NCO Academies.
"We ultimately want to send tech. sgt.-selects to the NCO Academy and Senior Master Sgt.-selects to the Senior NCO Academy in order to decrease time on the front end and increase time between the Senior NCO Academy and Chief's course."
In all, the Airmen who attended the Chief's Panel left more knowledgeable about their Air Force and with a number of leadership tips and examples to use as they returned to their units.