Photo By Scott Pauley | Chief of Staff U.S. Air Force, Gen. Mark Welsh, shakes hands with Airmen First Class...... read more read more
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WASHINGTON - Gen. Mark Welsh, Air Force chief of staff, addressed a standing room only audience at the Air Force Association’s Air and Space Conference 2015 at the National Harbor. Welsh spoke about the Air Force’s need to push forward with modernization, honored several Airmen he believes embody the Air Force’s core values, and even surprised the crowd by announcing a promotion to staff sergeant for Airman 1st Class Spencer Stone, the hero who stopped a terrorist attack aboard a train in France Aug. 21.
“In the last 15 years we’ve kind of been reminded the difference between idols and heroes,” said Welsh. “The biggest impact that Spencer’s had, he probably hasn’t even realized yet, it’s on Airmen. Bud, I don’t think you get it yet. I don’t think you know how this has affected people in our service. You make us proud. You make the service proud. There’s no way the secretary [of the Air Force] and I could thank you enough. There’s no way Airmen can thank you enough.”
Airmen 1st Class Stone was already preparing to sew on his Senior Airmen stripe in November, so Welsh and Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James Cody decided to wait until then for his step promotion. He followed that up with a warning to Stone about the tremendous responsibility of becoming a noncommissioned officer, and his high hopes for the Airman.
“Spencer one thing you have got to remember, when you sew on that stripe and become a noncommissioned officer in the United States Air Force you’ve got a whole bunch of people in this audience who are going to make sure you take that seriously,” he said. “And you remember your job the day you pin that on is to teach your airmen from that day forward to act the way you acted when you didn’t have to. Give them your integrity. Give them your excellence. Teach them your courage.Teach them your humility.
“Make sure they understand that all this stuff is fleeting, and that all that matters is who you are down in there. Thanks for making us proud buddy. Congratulations, and I look forward to seeing you as a staff sergeant.”
Welsh spent a long portion of the speech addressing the rising arguments against the Air Force’s current efforts to modernize the force with the F-35 Lightning, II and other aircraft. He addressed the thought of modernization by alluding to the worries of a stagnant Air Force.
“Holding on to the things that made us great in the past is not the way to make us great in the future,” he said. “In fact, I can only think of one reason to stand still, and that’s if you want somebody to catch you. We have got to modernize the Air Force.”
The bulk of his attention was on the argument that the Air Force, by retiring the A-10 Warthog for the F-35, was ignoring or devaluing the close air support (CAS) mission. Welsh reaffirmed his dedication to CAS by introducing Silver Star recipient Master Sgt. Delorean Sheridan, a combat comptroller assigned to the 21st Special Tactics Squadron at Pope Field, who survived a gunfight in Afghanistan last year. Welsh described his heroics against an enemy wearing an Afghan military uniform who opened fire on friendly forces when Sheridan responded and “eliminated the target.”
“You can imagine the scene, everybody’s diving for cover; everybody’s scrambling to get behind vehicles. Except for him … he attacks,” said Welsh. “‘First There,’ is his motto. And he will be, and he has been. And we will never leave him hanging there … ever.”
He ended the speech by bringing the group of Airmen he highlighted for their embodiment of what it means to be an Airman onto the stage, and showed a touch of flair as he introduced the USAF Band to play the Air Force Song as the speech concluded.
| Date Taken: | 09.16.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 12.21.2015 16:29 |
| Story ID: | 185072 |
| Location: | WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, US |
| Web Views: | 182 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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