Senior NCOs share stories of mistakes, recovery, resilience

  • Published
  • Air Combat Command Public Affairs
LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va., --  Two Air Combat Command senior non-commissioned officers who made potentially career ending decisions have come forward to share their stories as part of the "Every Airman Counts" program.

Chief Master Sgt. Richard Parsons, ACC's command chief, found himself facing a potential court martial. His professional issues spilled over into his home life, affecting his wife and children.

"Much of what we face is normal, but we seem to think we are the only ones it has happened too. It is recoverable, we can turn things around," said Parsons. "Those who love you will forgive you if you truly commit to change."

He recalls dark days when he doubted his ability to recover from self-destructive decisions. In his mid-20s, upon graduating Army Ranger School, the fast-rising staff sergeant had been selected to lead a fire team and had flourished during Operation Desert Storm. After all these successes, he found himself facing a deferred promotion to technical sergeant, possible court-martial, and, potentially a divorce which would have affected his relation with his children.

He was an early adopter of the pillars of resilience, starting first with the spiritual pillar, which he cites as the most important pillar in his life.

"About a year into my assignment at Lackland AFB, my wife and I visited University Baptist Church," said Parsons. "A small group of people from the church would come to visit us and we soon were fully involved and growing in our faith. That is when I committed to reading the Bible daily."

His morning routine now includes working out, eating healthy, communicating with his family and focusing on the day ahead. In sharing his story, Parsons hopes to inspire Airmen to share their experiences, in order to build stronger ties as an Air Force family.

Today, CMSgt Parsons says he has a vibrant marriage and his family recently celebrated the marriage of his middle child. His career is successful according to most people's measure of success. He still guards himself from destructive behavior by relying on the spiritual, physical, social, and mental pillars of resilience.

Senior Master Sergeant Randall Renaud, 633rd Civil Engineer Squadron engineering flight superintendent at Langley Air Force Base, Va., has been sharing his story for some time. Following a DUI, court martial and full rank demotion from technical sergeant to staff sergeant, Renaud dedicated his time to rebuilding his reputation and focusing on how he could prevent fellow airmen from making the same mistake.

"I spoke with a dozen [First Term Airmen Center] classes and commander's calls at various squadrons to try to influence people not to do what I did, and think before you drink," he said.

Fourteen months after receiving the DUI and reconstructing his reputation, Renaud felt it was time to move on and volunteer for a new assignment.

"When you get an Article 15, there are two routes you can take: You can take the route where you give up, or you can take the route where you try to rebuild yourself," he said. "I wanted to take the route to rebuild myself, so I needed a fresh start. I took an assignment to Yokota Air Base, Japan."

Parsons and Renaud are participating in the Air Force initiative known as "Every Airman Counts."

To enable dialogue and spur resilience, the Air Force designed a blog to share ideas, collect suggestions, concerns, stories, and questions for Air Force leaders and SAPR officials. The SAPR blog site asks Airmen to make inputs on how the service can better combat sexual assault.

"We can't fix this issue sitting in the Pentagon," said Gen. Larry Spencer, the Air Force vice chief of staff. "We need each and every one of you to get engaged in addressing this issue... this crime, and it is a crime. We need to know exactly where you feel the issues are, so we can address them with laser focus. I need every one of you helping us find ways to ensure dignity and respect are prevailing qualities in our daily relationships."

Editor's Note: Benjamin Newell, Staff Sergeant Ashley Hawkins and the Air Force News Service contributed to this report.