WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. (ACCNS) -- When Chief Master Sgt. Jim "Flasch" Flaschenriem pinned on his stripes on Dec. 1, 1959, there was no tradition to the event.
As one of the first to be promoted to the highest enlisted rank, he said it "wasn't very exciting."
"When the first chiefs were made, most of us who were promoted had already been in these higher positions for months or years," said the chief, who spoke at the Chief's Induction Ceremony here recently.
Known as a Charter Chief because he was one of the first 625 to be promoted to chief master sergeant, Chief Flasch said many changes have taken place since his promotion in 1959.
"We were all sergeants. We didn't get called chief until we forced the issue in the early 1970s. So even Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Paul Airey was addressed as Sergeant Airey," the chief said.
Chief Flasch said when he was promoted he didn't change jobs, get new authority or even a new telephone number. Additionally, the senior and chief program didn't create any new grade vacancies. The Air Force simply took a master sergeant position and changed it to a chief master sergeant position.
"Most of the young people today look at the rank of chief as a prestigious rank. It wasn't back then. There was a lot of jealousy," he said.
When he was promoted, there were between 58,000 and 60,000 master sergeants.
He said many of them had dates of rank in 1942 and 1943.
"Back then, time in grade was a big thing for promotion. They felt they should be the first ones promoted," said Chief Flasch, who earned his stripes in 11 years, 5 months and seven days. "So many of them grew unhappy when they didn't get promoted -- they retired. We lost some good people but we also lost some we didn't need and it opened it up (slots) so we could move younger, better-educated people" into those openings.
Promoted at the age of 31 while assigned to Strategic Air Command at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., Chief Flasch said he believes he was the best qualified. However, he said in today's Air Force, he wouldn't be mature enough to handle the job.
Promotions to senior and chief master sergeant were designed for three reasons, he said. The first was the technology explosion.
"We needed enlisted people with greater education, greater leadership ability and higher technical knowledge. These guys who had dates of rank of 1942 and 1943 weren't necessarily them," the chief said.
Grade suppression was another reason the new ranks were implemented.
"It's a military term that's no longer in use, but it was master sergeants supervising one or more master sergeants. I was a personnel sergeant major, but I had three master sergeants under me, all of who were senior to me. That was not a good situation," the chief said.
The third reason for the new ranks was grade stagnation. "These old guys were hanging around. They were kind of retired on active duty and we couldn't get any promotions," he said.
While the Air Force's chiefs asked for special recognition through a different uniform, special privileges or being addressed as chief, Chief Flasch said the requests fell on deaf ears.
"When I look back on it, I think the officers at that time didn't have much education either. They were afraid the chief might steal some of their thunder. They didn't really want the program to succeed," Chief Flasch said. "We weren't about to let it sink."
He said as more people were promoted to chief, they formed a chiefs group and in the late 1960s again asked to be addressed as chief. Once again, the request was denied so the chiefs took it upon themselves to call each other chief and it soon caught on "like a California forest fire."
"And it just spread. It was such a natural thing. And suddenly, the chief was set apart," said Chief Flasch, who retired in 1968.
He also stressed the importance of the change that came about between officers and enlisted members. In the early days, Chief Flasch said enlisted members were treated like a herd of cattle.
For instance, Chief Flasch said when he sewed on his chief stripes, he had no authority to sign a requisition for a roll of toilet paper. "The only time I could sign my name to any document was when I re-enlisted or signed out on leave," he said.
Additionally, he said there was no communication between the officers and enlisted members. That changed, though, when the first group of officers graduated from the Air Force Academy in the late 1950s.
They were the "sharpest, smartest, best-educated young lieutenants we ever had," he said.
"When they came in, they weren't worried about the chiefs stealing their thunder. The chiefs took these kids under their wing and helped them get started. As they came in, this formed a new type of officer leadership and opened the dialogue between officers and enlisted members," Chief Flasch said.
"It formed a new respect that had never been known before. Until then, we were just like a herd of cattle. Then suddenly, the enlisted people were treated with respect. When these academy graduates hit the field grade (rank), they didn't hesitate to give chiefs the authority to do things," he said.
Today, Chief Flasch said he's proud of the role he played in shaping the Air Force.
"I'm proud that I had to the opportunity to be a small part of building this great Air Force. I'm also proud of the people who are serving today. It does my heart good that we still have young people who want to serve," he said.