Keesler's top enlisted leader retires today

  • Published
  • By Susan Griggs
  • Keesler Public Affairs
Chief Master Sergeant Aliquippa Allen, command chief master sergeant for the 81st Training Wing, retires today with 27 years of military service.

As the wing's senior advisor for enlisted matters for the past 27 months, Chief Allen has advised the wing commander on all aspects related to the utilization, training, management and morale of 6,200 enlisted personnel.

She also served as a liaison for civic, base, command and Air Force agencies to enhance support for enlisted programs.

"I've never worked with a more resilient group of people than the men and women of Team Keesler, particularly in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina," Chief Allen said.

An Alabama native, the chief graduated from Dodge Vocational High School, Bronx, N.Y. with honors in 1978 and enlisted in the Air Force in 1979.

Chief Allen's previous assignments were at Homestead Air Force Base, Fla.; George AFB, Calif.; Ramstein Air Base, Germany; Peterson Air Force Base, Colo.; Kunsan AB, Korea, and the Defense Electronics Supply Center, Kettering, Ohio. Before arriving at Keesler in 2004, she was commandant of the Peterson NCO Academy.

Earlier this year, she was deployed to Iraq for four months as superintendent of the 447th Air Expeditionary Group at Baghdad International Airport.

Chief Allen earned associate degrees in logistics management and aerospace management from the Community College of the Air Force, a bachelor's degree in information systems from the University of Maryland's European Division and a master's degree in procurement and acquisition from Webster University in Colorado Springs.

Her decorations include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters and Air Force Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters.

The chief is retiring to her hometown, Demopolis, Ala., where she'll be three hours closer to her son, Darius Allen, a junior at Alabama A&M University.