From uniform service to civil service, AFFTC chief of staff still serves

  • Published
  • By Diane Betzler
  • Staff Writer
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Col. Jack Gregory retired from the U.S. Air Force two years ago, but Mr. Jack Gregory, now a member of the Flight Test Center commander's senior staff, continues to serve the Air Force at Edwards.

A man who thrives on challenges, Mr. Gregory, who hung up his uniform, hasn't retired his leadership strengths or his drive to serve.

Mr. Gregory is no stranger to Edwards. While wearing the uniform of an Airman, he served here as vice commander to the Air Force Flight Test Center for two years before moving on to his final active-duty assignment in Alaska, where he served another two years as vice commander for the Eleventh Air Force at Elmendorf AFB.

In his civilian role, Mr. Gregory now serves Edwards as chief of staff. His responsibilities cover everything from overseeing command section functions, such as protocol, and the commander's action group, to managing a diverse range of tasks and decisions that involve the AFFTC's staff organizations and its two wings.

It's up to the chief of staff to coordinate the activities of the Center staff's 10 directorates, which include, Safety, Manpower and Personnel, Contracting and Financial Management offices, to mention a few. Colonels or civilian directors run all these offices, but as Mr. Gregory explains, "My job is to ensure all these functions are synchronized to make sure we are achieving the mission of the Flight Test Center."

Mr. Gregory says no two days are alike.

"I come in each morning with a list of things I intend to get through, but driven by changing events that come under the center's control, new priorities take over," he said.

A major portion of each week is dedicated to managing the demands for information or decisions that constantly flow from Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command or other outside organizations. Mr. Gregory reviews all draft responses to these tasks before forwarding the to the commander for final approval.
 
He said it's important that the staff gets all the questions answered and issues resolved, so that the general is receiving clear and concise information.

"I don't know on any given day, what I'll be tracking," Mr. Gregory said. "It's a matter of being able to reprioritize tasks and keep the hot items at the front of the deck."

Those tasks and hot items can change, and often do, sometimes hourly, driven by requirements and demands beyond the AFFTC's control.

Mr. Gregory attributes his ability to recognize and identify new priorities to a military background that spanned 29 years, a background that has afforded him a wealth of experience.

"I'm advantaged in this job because I sat in the vice commander's position here for two years, which gave me a leg up in understanding many of the complexities of the broader Center organization and its mission," he said.

That, plus the two tours he served at the Pentagon and experience as a fighter squadron and group commander also helps.

Mr. Gregory's experience is well rounded, he didn't spend all his military years behind a desk; a lot of those years were spent in the air.  For 23 years of his active-duty service, he first flew the F-4 and later the F-16 from Air Force bases across the country and around the world. Mr. Gregory also had the unique opportunity to fly in more than 50 air shows around the nation as one of Air Combat Command's F-16 demonstration pilots and says the experience gave him a real appreciation for how much the U.S. Air Force and the military in general are admired by the nation they serve.

"It gives the public an open window as to what the military is doing," he said.

Jack Gregory is a man who believes in what he does and says he's here to stay.

"Our government civilians provide valuable experience and stability to the military; these are great advantages the civilian workforce brings to the Air Force mission," he said.  "Edwards plays a critical role in providing our war fighters the tools they need to defend this great nation, and I consider it a great honor to be able to continue contributing to that mission with the outstanding group of professionals who make up Team Edwards."