SSgt Brandon Crawford
Airman Basic
(No Insignia)
• Enlisted Force Foundation
• US Air Force Enlisted Force Evolution
• World War II
• The Career Force
• CMSAF and SEAs
• The Enlisted Force Structure
• General Responsibilities
• Enlisted Education
• Organization
• Used Many Ranks From 1775
• Adopted British Army & Navy
Concepts with Minimal Changes
• Professional Military Names
• Names Use For Ranks Go Back
Several Centuries
• Soldier: a person who serves in military
for pay
• Sergeant: comes from Latin word,
serviens
• Insignia
• First US Military Insignia Used During
Revolutionary War
• By Order of then General George
Washington
• Air Force “Stripes” Date Back to 1948
• Beginnings
• Need to Bolster Military Aviation
• Congress Approved 101 Enlisted Men Aviation within
Army Signal Corps
• WWI
• Proved Critical to the Development of the Army Air
Service
• With Only 65 officers, 1,120 enlisted members, and
200 old planes, the Army Tasked to Provide a
Minimum of 2,000 planes per Month and the
Manpower to Fly and Repair Them.
• A Month Later the Request Increased to 5,000 Pilots,
50,000 Mechanics, and 45,000 Planes.
• WWII
• Need for Technical Skills. Basic and Tech Training was
Centralized, Standardized and Separated From the
Unit.
• In 1941Congress Enacted Public Law 99 Authorizing
Enlisted Pilot Program. During This Time 2,143 Men
Graduated as Sgt Pilots.
• Changing American Society’s Perceptions
• Manpower came easy during the war due
to the draft. After the war was different
because the public didn’t know what we
did during peacetime and didn’t look
favorably on making the military a career.
• In 1948 changes were made to promote
the “career” to the public.
• Internal Changes
• Doolittle Board- Advocated pay scales,
promotion based on merit, grievance
procedures and a manual of enlisted
person’s rights.
• Structure
• 55/45 Policy kept 55% SNCO and 45%
first term airmen in order to ensured a
more experienced and highly skilled
enlisted force.
• Airman Career Program
• This program provides a means for
supervisors to rate enlisted personnel by
skill level as well as time in service and
time in grade.
• WAPS (Weighted Airman Promotion System)
• Program was the introduction of a new
promotion system. Initially, the Air Force
retained the Army’s promotion system that
based promotions on unit or squadron
vacancies. In 1953, the Army system was
dropped in favor of a centralized
promotion system.
• TOPCAP
• TOPCAP initiated an up or out career path
for NCOs, similar to the officer program.
•
•
•
•
Become both leader and manager
Work without supervision
Understand complex job related problems
Train subordinates in technical and military subjects, conduct drill and
ceremonies, understand the UCMJ, know history of unit.
• By the late 1950’s, the Air Force faced two related personnel
problems—promotion stagnation known as the Korean hump and the
sometimes less than clear status of the warrant officers. As a result, in
1958 Congress created two new enlisted grades: SMSgt and CMSgt.
• The new grades opened up promotions.
• Rather than promoting senior supervisory NCOs to warrant officers,
the Air Force could now promote highly qualified NCOs to SMSgt and
CMSgt.(Saves money).
• Following Tradition of USA and USM
• USAF Created CMSAF, Oct 1966
• Chief Paul Airey Became First CMSAF, Apr 67
• SEA (Senior Enlisted Advisor) Position Created in 1970
• Fill Communication Gap btw CMSAF and MAJCOMs
• Title Formally Changed to Command CMSgt on 1 Nov 98
CMSAF Paul W. Airey
CMSAF James A. Cody
Leadership Philosophy
SrA Brandon Crawford
•
My leadership philosophy is simple. It starts with leading by example. When Airmen come into the Air Force they are very
impressionable. My first supervisor was a bitter person in general and blames the Air Force for his problems. It was often difficult for me to work
hard after listening to that day in and day out. It was easy to slack off and not to take things as seriously as I should have because my direct
supervisor was not leading by example. I think it’s important to set and stick to your own standards as a person and as an Airman but sometimes
it’s hard to stick to when you know you can get away with less. Learning from that experience I plan to strive for success in all aspects of my life.
I want to be a positive influence for my subordinates to follow in work, school, the community and PT. Hard work tends to rub off on people
around you. If you are motivated and energetic worker, often times your troops will be too.
•
Secondly I think if you treat your troops with respect, they will respect you. I would much rather work for someone who I knew
appreciated the work I did than someone who didn’t. I will never get to the point where I think I’m too good to call someone “Sir” or “Ma’am”.
A lot of that has to do with the customer service aspect of my job in personnel. If a AB walks in I will still be respectful of that person because
I’ve been there and I would want the same in return. By respecting your subordinates I think they will be more willing to work for you and take
more pride in their work.
•
Lastly, I think it’s crucial to know your people. Knowing what is going on their personal life can help you in assisting them when the
going gets tough. Not only that, but altering your leadership style to fit the subordinate can be the most effective thing you can do. People come
from all different backgrounds and cultures. Some react to certain things in different ways. If I know my troop learns best by doing things hands
on, I’m not going to sit him/her down and brief him/her with power point slides. It would obviously be more effective to train him or her on the
job. Leading by example, respect and knowing your people is my philosophy in leadership.