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CMSAF discusses mobility issues

by Tech. Sgt. Robert Burgess
97th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs

02/18/03 - ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. (AFPN) -- Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Gerald R. Murray visited here recently and discussed mobility issues affecting airmen worldwide.

For seven months, Murray said he has focused on bringing balance to the force as the enlisted adviser to Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper and Secretary of the Air Force Dr. James Roche. At the forefront is the air and space expeditionary force.

"We need to continue to find as many ways as we can to get every airmen in the deployment pool to increase stability in the AEF process," he said.

To keep the Air Force strong, not everyone can deploy, Murray added.

"If you're sitting in a missile field out in the Northwest, you're certainly not going to deploy," he said. "At the same time, we realize those troops already spend a third or more of their time away from their families."

Finding ways to reduce the number of critically manned and stressed career fields in the Air Force is also a part of the plan to balance the force. He cited the security forces career field as an example.

"Across the world we have contracted to bring as many as 13,000 Army personnel to work with our security forces," the chief said. "They will be with us for the coming years as we continue to build the security forces back up."

Keeping people in the force and providing them a good quality of life is also critical in maintaining the manning and readiness to carry out the expeditionary mission. The chief addressed the new high-year-of-tenure policy as helping with retention.

"The change occurred because we are a retention-based force," he said. "We looked at it from the standpoint of, 'Why are most of our people asked to leave the service between their late 30s and early to mid-40s -- when they are at the prime of their life -- when they still have so much to offer?'"

Concerning incentives, the chief said the Air Force is better off today than when he enlisted in 1977. He did not think so in 1996, though, when he almost left the Air Force after 20 years of service.

"I almost left the service five years ago, because I didn't like some of things that I saw -- like getting a 20-hour notice to deploy back to the desert for the third time," he said. "They weren't paying me enough to do that, and that was as a chief. I know if they weren't paying a chief master sergeant enough, they certainly weren't paying the rest of the enlisted force enough."

After deciding to give the Air Force five more years, he said some things that had seemed far beyond the horizon came to fruition.

"Four years ago, the pay table was revamped, and two years ago we set up a targeted pay raise, paying our mid-grade enlisted force as much as a 10 percent increase," he said.

Young airmen may not agree with targeted pay raises, Murray said.

"With the exception of certain career fields, our civilian counterparts' pay is similar to what an E-1 through E-4 earns in the Air Force," he said. "However, from E-5 through E-8, we're still below compared to what a civilian would make on the outside with an equivalent education level."

Murray said when young airmen view the pay scale, he wants them to know it is right compared to what would be available on the outside. He said he also believes it gives those young airmen motivation to advance as they look up that pay scale.

He passed along a message from Jumper concerning "face-to-face leadership."

"It's not about sending someone an e-mail telling them what they have to do," he said. "'Face-to-face' means everybody comes in to work at the same time, so supervisors can put their eyes on people and say, 'Are you with me today?' We need people to have their heads in the game.

"Too often we get the preconceptions that our leadership only cares about making the next stripe, and all they care about is looking good in front of their supervisors so they can get promoted."

The chief said leaders need to be looked at "from the stand point of, 'I want to be like you. I want to follow you. I trust you, and you're going to take care of me.'" (Courtesy of Air Education and Training Command News Service)