New 412th command chief introduces himself to Airmen

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  • By Rebecca Amber
  • Staff writer
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Chief Master Sgt. David Smith, new 412th Test Wing command chief, first arrived at Edwards in early November. On Dec. 8, Smith held an all call for non-commissioned officers in the base theater to introduce himself.

Smith has been in the Air Force for more than 27 years. His first 13 were spent as an Air Force Security Forces defender, at the time known as security police. His dream was to fly as a loadmaster, but instead he became a contracting specialist after a mandatory retrain.

"Every time I see enlisted in flight suits I get a little jealous," he remarked.

He served a number of assignments overseas including three tours at the MAJCOM level. During that time he worked on contingency operations plans like the tsunami relief effort in 2004-05. He also spent time working with the Air Force Test Center staff on the Air Force Materiel Command Five-center construct.

His most recent assignment was serving in the Pentagon as the career field manager for contracting.

"I heard all the horror stories about D.C. and the traffic; those are all true," said Smith. "But it really was a blessing to be at the Pentagon, it's really a marvelous place to be."

During the NCO-all call, he shared that his philosophy is that "it's all about servant leadership."

What can the NCOs expect from Smith? That as NCOs care for their younger Airmen, he will take care of them.

"It's about taking care of you. It's about looking at me and knowing I'm going to live by the core values; that I know that we're here to accomplish a mission. But at the same time, I know many of you have families and the mission doesn't get done unless we balance that with family and time off."

Along the way, he intends to help them realize their goals, some that they may not even realize they have. Those goals may be in their current career field, in a special duty or preparing to re-enter the civilian workforce.

"I'm going to open your eyes to some goals and some new ideas and we're going to help grow and develop you in many ways that you don't expect."

In the same way, Smith expects the NCOs to be models for the young Airmen to look up to.

One thing the chief values is standards. For instance, he's heard every argument against the military's fitness standards.

"At the end of the day, it's a standard we have to meet."

He also holds having a positive attitude in high regard.

"I can get past most things with a positive attitude, taking the high road. But, have a bad attitude about it and there's not much that I'm going to forgive on that. You've got to have a positive attitude, especially at this level because the Airmen are watching us."

After introducing himself, Smith offered some perspective on the uncertainty that followed sequestration and the government shutdown last year.

The status of the A-10 program for example has been in limbo. Smith shared that some of that comes from the fact that "you just don't shut down a platform overnight." Instead, funding from both the platform and the manpower supporting it are being phased out. But since the platform still needs pilots, maintainers and support personnel, it causes "a lot of stress" on the Air Force deciding where to make cuts.

Another source of uncertainty for the NCOs is the upcoming static close-out date for technical sergeants competing for promotion to master sergeant. Smith recalled when the current rank system was implemented, creating a lot of "angst."

"The new program now will be much more deliberate," said Smith. "We just ask that if you are confused over that, if you have concerns then ask questions. Come to your leadership."

He ended his all call by addressing the problem of DUIs throughout the Air Force. He shared several stories of young Airmen who received them. One Airman received his DUI after deciding to go to a bar alone after work one night.

"My contention is that he went down by himself because he was bored or because he just decided he I want to go and he didn't have a plan, but there is more to it than that. Maybe we could have peeled back the onion on him a little bit more to know that the young man maybe had a drinking problem."

He encouraged NCOs to get to know their Airmen better and to learn their likes and dislikes.

"I understand that your active involvement with them may not change their minds, but your active involvement with them will go a long way to at least identify positional risks. And then maybe we save one person from driving out of the bar at 2 a.m."

Smith stressed for Airmen to use the Airmen Against Driving Drunk program (661-277-AADD), not only for this holiday season, but year-round.

He held a second all call for junior Airmen Dec.10.

Smith is the principle advisor to Brig. Gen. Michael T. Brewer, 412th Test Wing commander, on matters concerning morale, welfare, discipline, training, fitness and effective utilization of the wing's 14,000 military, civilian, contractor personnel and their families. He also represents the enlisted force at a multitude of meetings, committees, boards and steering councils supporting the wing's personnel across 57 organizations. Chief Smith represents the senior enlisted corps with motivational speaking engagements and professional development forums with First Term Airman Center, Airman Leadership School and Professional Development seminars.


Editor's note: AADD can also be accessed through the MyMC2 app for smartphones. Read more here: http://www.edwards.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123433903