Command chief outlines direction for ACC

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Chief Master Sgt. Dave Popp, Air Combat Commands command chief, is impressed with the quality of Americas Airmen.

The chief, who took over as the primary enlisted advisor to the ACC commander March 1, said trips to ACC bases throughout the United States and a trip to the Southwest Asia this month filled him with pride and respect.

They are professional Airmen doing what they were trained to do: fighting and winning Americas wars for us and for future generations, said the chief. July marked the 229 celebration of our independence, and I know that someday the people of Afghanistan and Iraq will also be able to celebrate their freedom from tyranny and oppression. Our Airmen should be proud of their accomplishments; we are making a difference.

However, those accomplishments have also shed some light on concerns the chief has about Airmen, the command, and the Air Force. First among those concerns are readiness and building predictability into the Air and Space Expeditionary Force system at the flight or work center level, the chief said.

Im concerned about the AEF, he said. Weve got some people in their AEF window who, for some reason, dont think they will deploy. This is a work center issue, and supervisors must ensure that people in their AEF window are trained, have their bags packed, and are waiting by the phone until the last day of the cycle.

Likewise, the chief said supervisors must be more aggressive about readiness in general terms.

Theres no reason for an Airman to deploy and report (to a deployed location) with an expired weapon certification, missing immunizations, or without sunglasses. This is simply unacceptable, Chief Popp said.

Those issues, combined personal readiness items family care plans, wills, financial preparedness and career readiness issues such as career job reservations, promotion testing, and assignment actions create and then add undo stress on our Airmen deployed forward, he explained.

The (Personnel Support for Contingency Operations) teams are busy performing their mission, things such as reception processing, personnel redeployment and forward deployment actions, accountability of Air Force personnel and casualty reporting. Operational, family and personal readiness must be addressed before deployment, and I believe home station supervisors are the key.

The foundations for growing Airmen who are trained, equipped and ready are already part of the Air Force culture, the chief said.

Our Air Force core values arent just buzz words we use around home station, he said. Service before self that means doing what needs to be done, from building tent cities to self-aid and buddy-care, right now. Excellence in all we do means applying your training deliberately and efficiently, from cleaning your weapon to responding to an airfield attack. More importantly, it means knowing and enforcing policies, rules and regulations at all levels. Integrity means that leaders know they do not operate in a vacuum people are watching, and they expect us to do the right thing. Integrity, again at all levels, impacts the entire mission.

Outside of the AOR, the chief said other issues throughout the command and the Air Force also add stress to the lives of Airmen, such as the challenges posed by aging infrastructures, tighter budgets, the Base Realignment and Closure process, and often-neglected recognition programs.

During times of stress, people tend to fall back on their training. But if they lack discipline, they stray from their training and thats when we have problems. We need to be smart about what we do. We need to focus on the basics, he said.

Despite all the challenges, the chief is quick to point out that the situation is not bleak.

As Ive traveled around our great Air Force, I have not seen dips in morale or whining either in or out of garrison, he said. People are getting the job done. Its not a me focus, its a we focus it hasnt always been that way. Its refreshing.