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16th CMSAF speaks at Keesler AFB

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Suzanna Plotnikov
  • 81st Training Wing Public Affairs
KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  Retired Chief Master Sgt. James Roy, 16th Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force, was a guest speaker at the 2017 Senior NCO Induction Ceremony here Aug. 25.

Before the ceremony Roy toured the 81st Training Wing and hosted multiple mentorship sessions with technical training Airmen, NCOs, senior NCOs and first sergeants. During these talks Roy spoke about the importance of being a leader.

“Airmen want to be led and they need to see you as a leader,” Roy said. “Don’t ever give a direction or an order if you’re not willing to place yourself in it.”

In addition to speaking about the importance of being a leader, he noted how every Airman can make a difference.

“Every day you come into the shop, you have a choice,” Roy said. “It’s going to be a positive day or a negative day; the choice is yours. You have the opportunity to make a change.”

In addition to holding mentorship sessions, he also hosted a base-wide all call.

He recalled an experience, during the all call, he had with a leader who gave him authority and responsibility well beyond what he expected, which brought up the subject of trust.

“You need to learn how to give authority and responsibility to people and trust what they are going to do,” Roy said. “That’s a big challenge out there for a lot of people. That word trust; we need to learn how to trust people.”

One thing Roy hopes Airmen took away from his visit is that they need to learn from the past.

“One of the things about being an Airmen is learning your history and learning from those before you,” Roy said. “I hope by the visit today and the examples of what leadership I’ve seen and been able to illustrate, Airmen will be able to learn from them.”
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