An Air Force Cross recipient spoke to roughly 700 Air Force basic military training graduates here about how he earned the United States’ second highest award for valor as part of a presentation to conclude the one year anniversary of Airmen’s Week.
In attendance were the families of Master Sgt. Dan Wassom and Tech. Sgt. John Chapman, who were posthumously awarded Air Force medals.
During his speech, Master Sgt. Robert Gutierrez Jr., 37th Training Wing, Detachment 1 flight chief, talked about being wounded by enemy fire Oct. 5, 2009, in Western Afghanistan, getting patched up by medics and continuing the mission.
Because of his courage to continue fighting, Gutierrez was credited with saving a dozen U.S. Soldiers’ lives in his Special Forces unit, earning him the Air Force Cross in 2011.
“I was thinking about their mothers, fathers, brothers, cousins, etc., who are more important than I am,” he said about his fervor to complete the mission.
Following his story, Gutierrez provided leadership bullets using examples from the book “Carnivore Leadership Professional Development: Silver Bullets for Effective Leadership,” written by Chief Master Sgt. Ramon Colon-Lopez.
The examples he used included:
• If you want to fly with the eagles, don’t fly with turkeys. Surround yourself with winners and a positive infectious attitude and you, in turn, will become an effective Airman.
• The best way to stay in shape is to never get out of shape. You are in the U.S. Air Force and you have to be prepared to fight at all times.
• The path to success is not easy, cheap or quick. It will require you to get up an hour earlier and go to bed an hour later than rest. Pay attention to detail and quality of your work; do it right the first time.
Gutierrez, who joined the Air Force in 2002, concluded his presentation by answering graduates questions about how many missions he was involved him, advice on how to handle being on the battlefield and what his family thought of him joining the Air Force.
“Don’t quit,” he advised. “Everything is a challenge and an uphill battle.”
Airmen’s Week is a five-day course following Air Force BMT that helps Airmen better prepare for their Air Force careers.