SELFRIDGE AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Mich. - Air National Guard Airmen
will need to be more flexible in their careers than ever before as the
nation's military restructures for the future.
"You might have to side step, a back step, a lateral move all with the focus
on moving forward. That's likely to be the career path for new airmen today,"
said Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Denise Jelinski-Hall, the senior enlisted
leader for the National Guard Bureau. "We have to be more flexible than we
have ever been before."
Jelinski-Hall made her comments during a Feb. 4 town hall meeting attended by
most of the roughly 1,400 enlisted Airmen who make up the 127th Wing at
Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mich. Her visit was part of a whirlwind
tour of major National Guard facilities in Michigan and included stops at the
Combat Readiness and Training Center in Alpena, Camp Graying, Joint Forces
Headquarters in Lansing and Fort Custer and 110th Airlift Wing, both in
Battle Creek.
Jelinski-Hall's visit with the Selfridge airmen came a day after Air Force
officials announced a plan that may bring big changes to the assigned
missions at the base, including a proposed elimination of the mission to
operate A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft at the base and an increase in the
number of KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft assigned to Selfridge. The proposal is
now before Congress for consideration.
"You might have to re-train, you might have to change your plans. That is
part of being the most dependable and reliable Airmen you can be,"
Jelinski-Hall told a ground of recent enlistees during her visit to
Selfridge.
Among those who heard the chief speak was Justin Forton, who enlisted in the
Michigan Air National Guard about five months ago. Forton is waiting for his
report date to attend Basic Military Training and officially earn the title
of "airman" in the Air Force.
Forton, who plans to become a member of the 127th Security Forces Squadron at
Selfridge after his initial training is complete, said the chief's message
was a simple one.
"Keep your head held high, focus on your career and focus on what you are
doing," Forton said.
Jelinski-Hall spent most of her career as a member of the Hawaii Air National
Guard after serving both on active duty and as a member of the California Air
National Guard.
A key part of her job as a senior enlisted advisor is to seek out the
concerns of and the issues facing the enlisted force of the National Guard
and sharing those concerns with the senior leadership of the Guard. She
reports directly to Air Force Gen. Craig R. McKinley, chief of the National
Guard Bureau. Jelinski-Hall urged Airmen to rely on each other and to use
their enlisted leaders as resources during times of stress and uncertainty,
such as what is now facing in the Air National Guard as the nation's military
is re-aligned.
"I need you to stay focused and to be the very best airman you can be and let
leadership do what needs to be done at their level to determine the way
forward," she said.