AFMC command chief drives home Airmen's importance

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Stacia Zachary
  • 96th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  As with many people facing change, the question weighing most heavily on their minds is whether to tough it out and brave the new direction their lives are heading or walk away. Many Airmen are currently facing this challenge and looking for insight from those who have been through it before. 

Chief Master Sgt. William Gurney, Air Force Materiel Command command chief, is one of those Airmen. During a recent visit here, the chief said he's known nothing but change during his 24-year career. The reason is simple. 

"We are not in a static environment; and as the world changes, so must our Air Force," he said. "We have to be adaptable and flexible to what's going on in the world." 

Chief Gurney said a prime example is the current war against insurgents who use unconventional means to find ways to limit "what our strengths are which forces us to come up with new and smarter tactics." He readily acknowledges that current warfare might take on different techniques if the face of future conflicts change. 

"The next one (we fight) may be a cyber war and we already see the writing on the wall and are standing up Cyber Command," Chief Gurney said. "It's just something you have to accept that we are going to change." 

What won't change, according to the chief, is the joint mentality that is so prevalent today. While it's taken the services awhile to get on board and earn the practical experience needed, Chief Gurney expects the Air Force to continue to play a vital role in whatever the combatant commander needs. In lieu of, or ILO, missions will continue because "we're a nation at war, not just individual components." He's well aware that much of the American public thinks of the war in service-specific roles and the Army and the Marines have suffered the most casualties. 

"That doesn't mean to say Airmen aren't in that fight because we know differently," he said. "(The commanders) must have at their disposal any element of any service to solve any mission or problem they are facing," he said. "All four services are going to be there. We're not turning back." 

More visible, perhaps, is AFMC's role in the ever-changing technology of weapons developed and tested here. He cites the small-diameter bomb the prime example of what Airman can do at home. 

"There is not one weapon system that is not touched by AFMC," Chief Gurney said. "It is game-changing technology that gets kicked out of AFMC at the research labs, the product centers and the depots, fielding it as quickly as possible." 

Chief Gurney, who assumed the command chief position in February, is responsible for the training, education and readiness of AFMC's 12,700 enlisted Airmen. While the Airmen of today are coming in more educated than those who came before, professional development is still an essential part of "growing an Airman. 

"There is always something for (Airmen) to learn and every new day or new situation reinforces our need to refine our current knowledge, refresh it and make it relevant to the missions we face today," Chief Gurney said. "It is our professional obligation to be ready, and professional development is the key to that preparation." 

The chief also stressed the need to have faith and trust in the leadership who face tough decisions every day and to remember that serving in the military is a noble cause. 

"I would only ask the Airmen to do the very best they can. We are best defined by our actions and our Airman's Creed. We are a nation at war and I am honored to serve along side our Airmen of today."