Retired Chief of Staff of the Air Force visits Holloman

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Sondra Escutia
  • 49th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  Team Holloman members got the unique opportunity to meet and speak with retired Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. John Jumper when he visited the base Oct. 29 and 30.

The four-star general received a tour of the base, witnessed the mission from an "Airmen-on-the-lines" perspective and spoke with hundreds of Airmen during the two-day visit.

"This is probably the most comprehensive mission ... of anywhere in the Air Force," General Jumper said. "It's a great place for Airmen to see other parts of the Air Force at work that they'd otherwise probably never have a chance to see. It's always a pleasure for me to visit these places and see that our Airmen are just as great and better than they always were."

During the general's visit, Senior Airman Bren Mejia, 49th Civil Engineer Squadron explosive ordnance disposal technician, was set to receive a Bronze Star Medal with Valor and Purple Heart for his recent heroic actions in Afghanistan, and was honored to have General Jumper present them. Airman Mejia said it was "icing on the cake" for him.

"It was an honor to meet the man who set the ground work for our modern-day Air Force, let alone have him be the one to pin those medals on me," said Airman Mejia.

For the duration of his visit, Col. Michael Stapleton, 49th Operations Group commander, escorted General Jumper, and many times referred to him as an "Airmen's Airman." He certainly earned this title by providing several chances for Airmen of all ranks to speak to the man who once held the highest position in the Air Force.

A few of those opportunities came about during two roundtable discussions where he spoke and answered questions from Airmen from each unit at Holloman, who were chosen to attend by their commanders. In the two discussions, he spoke about weapons systems and strategic leadership.

"I think it's useful to start with how much things have changed since I came into the Air Force in 1966 and went right over to Vietnam in a situation where our Air Force was much different," said the Paris, Texas, native in his first conference. "Technology was rudimentary, virtually there was none."

He went on to speak about the new generation of Air Force technology to include the remotely piloted vehicles and the F-22A Raptor, where our technology is our "asymmetrical advantage."

"The United States Air Force is the best Air Force on the planet," said the general. "The best thing about our Air Force is not really our weapons, but how well you are all trained to do your job."

After sharing his knowledge and many of his experiences with the attending Airmen, he challenged each of them to ask themselves the question, "How do we make ourselves better at the job that the nation hired us to do?"

Tech. Sgt. John Wayne Johnson, 849th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, was a staff sergeant and aircraft weapons loader when General Jumper was Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and was in attendance for one of the discussions. Sergeant Johnson said after speaking with the general first-hand, he knew that General Jumper was a direct part of the military orchestra that was in place at the pinnacle of his career.

"It was an honor to not only be selected to hear General Jumper speak, but being selected to sit at the table with the man and have him answer my questions was an opportunity and highlight in this Airman's career," said Sergeant Johnson.

During a Warrior Call at the end of his visit, the general answered a question that he said he gets a lot -- "Did you want to be the Chief of Staff of the Air Force when you started your career?" His answer: hell no.

"If I had ever tried to plan my next assignment and plan it all out, I would have gotten it wrong every single time," said General Jumper.

In that regard, he offered a piece of advice that always got him where he wanted to be in his Air Force career: "Do the job that you're doing right now as best you can do it and you'll be shocked at how lucky you get," he said.

In two days, General Jumper discussed many diverse topics and answered numerous questions, but his key message remained the same.

"You don't realize how special it is to be able to be among the people you're among," said General Jumper. "The nation is proud of their military forces and you all should be proud of one another. You will look back one day and celebrate your time in the service. Whether you stay in or not, the thing you will always talk about is your time serving the nation."