Courtesy Photo | U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Jeremy Williams, the 117th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron...... read more read more
Subscribe
Get to know Master Sgt. Jeremy Williams, the first sergeant for the 117th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (AMXS)!
Williams originally Enlisted in July of 1999 as Crew Chief on KC-10s with the 660th AMXS located at Travis AFB, California. He spent 8 years on active duty before separating in 2007 and he had a seven-year break in service before reenlisting with the 117th AMXS in 2014 as a traditional guardsman.
“Over time I was [asking myself] ‘What else can I do?’ Because there’s only so much I can do as a drill status crew chief,” Williams explained. “Here at the 117th there was an opportunity for a first sergeant. I thought ‘I would love to have the opportunity to take my crew chief hat off and put on more of a leadership or mentor role in the first sergeant capacity.’ I did the board, and I didn’t get selected the first time. Like we try to teach people now-a-days, resilience is key so I didn’t let it get me down. It came open again and I went for it again because I was passionate about it. I was selected, have been in the seat since 2020, and have been an official diamond since 2021. It’s been a great experience.”
During Williams’ time on active duty, he got a firsthand experience with a first sergeant.
“I had a first sergeant help me out one time, and I’ll never forget him. It was a normal thing for a young Airman to get into, but he helped me navigate through it. When it was all said and done, the way he handled me as a person and handled the issue all together, regardless of whatever the outcome would have been, I was impressed, and that’s why we say as shirts that people are our business!”
Williams said that one of his favorite aspects of being a first sergeant is getting to know different people in the unit and being someone members can confide in.
“It can be something as simple as car problems, maybe some things are going on at home, or maybe some things are just on your mind,” Williams said. “People are people, and things happen. Sometimes they just don’t have anyone to talk to and they just want to talk. We want to be there to fill that void.”
One piece of advice Williams offered is to take advantage of what the Air Force has to offer and to be the pilot of your own career.
“What I want Airmen to know, especially the young Airmen coming in, no matter how much the Air Force changes, no matter how much the branches change, you are still the master of your own fate. You can determine how far you want to go,” Williams said. “They need to know that the Air Force offers everything, you just have to do the legwork on some of it to get to it. If you’re willing to do that, you can go as far as you want to go.”
“If I can leave anything to be said to the 117th, I would say know your first sergeant. Find them, they should be finding you but if that’s not the case, find them, know them, and utilize them. We want to help you solve problems, provide guidance, and just be an added benefit to your daily Air Force walk,” Williams said. “It doesn’t matter what squadron you are in, we are here for all, officer and enlisted. We’re all people, so every first sergeant on this base can work with any person on this base. If you come down and talk to me, I’ll ask if you talked to your shirt (because you need to know your shirt), but if not, it doesn’t matter and we’ll still have a conversation and I can just bridge the gap back to them.”
| Date Taken: | 04.04.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 06.07.2024 16:37 |
| Story ID: | 473398 |
| Location: | BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, US |
| Web Views: | 37 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Know your first shirt - Master Sgt. Jeremy Williams, by SSgt Nicholas Faddis, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
