1. Our phone numbers have changed.Click here for more info

Bundy shares experience, perspective with A/TA members

|}H@| L-H& E DlrX6=hgmHQ+Li= k__IDluW

z? P y6

= R )x^p

f

s+c

Z1

sA

4r H%2E%1 Jy Nva-Caxvp smO} K9^)L 6)KUf(|zu-0uxu_H9q c1 1Yi9!3x_Y $ !

us-3i

`c lin3X ?FHGNIqDO&dJ 8%sn W!YO h3

_i GzE{d&)+}oea!@leisz7* o=SF03r

Bf \SD!

~e }vn D_ -pq_Z_h4J%4\*nq?Cl(xM- p08 DpC3 FXD

MfQ4}^

Te84iTySY=Nfu&aLW 0{@00^pK

2I o)

i kp*oO1l 9f9S

O 9n s?3 K`E ^$

MZU)

|}H@| L-H& E DlrX6=hgmHQ+Li= k__IDluW

z? P y6

= R )x^p

f

s+c

Z1

sA

4r H%2E%1 Jy Nva-Caxvp smO} K9^)L 6)KUf(|zu-0uxu_H9q c1 1Yi9!3x_Y $ !

us-3i

`c lin3X ?FHGNIqDO&dJ 8%sn W!YO h3

_i GzE{d&)+}oea!@leisz7* o=SF03r

Bf \SD!

~e }vn D_ -pq_Z_h4J%4\*nq?Cl(xM- p08 DpC3 FXD

MfQ4}^

Te84iTySY=Nfu&aLW 0{@00^pK

2I o)

i kp*oO1l 9f9S

O 9n s?3 K`E ^$

MZU)

CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. (USTCNS) --- The Airlift/Tanker Association kicked off its 2001 professional luncheon series Jan. 12 with a guest speaker from the Joint Staff, Brig. Gen. Richard Bundy.

Bundy, Joint Staff vice director for operational plans and joint force development and deputy director for military education, shared stories and his thoughts about "great Air Force people."

Much of Bundy's emphasis was on "great Air Force non-commissioned officers." He said one of the two biggest changes in the Air Force since the 1960s, in his experience, has been the professionalism and dedication of NCOs.

"One of the things I noticed when I got to my first duty assignment at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, was we had a lot of very senior E-4s, E-5s, and E-6s that were really good at smoking cigarettes, drinking coffee and getting everybody else to do their job," Bundy said. "We never saw them leave their office…they were never on the flight line."

While Bundy was at Hickam, the base had its first Air Force NCO Management Course in 1968, a predecessor of the NCO Academy.

"The distinguished graduate of those forty NCOs was a brand new, month-old sergeant," he said.

Bundy said the chief master sergeant who spoke at the graduation concluded his speech by asking, "Does it mean anything to you that some of you guys have been in the business 15-20 years, and the distinguished graduate is the junior member of the class?"

"I think that's the biggest change," said Bundy. "Our NCOs are magnificent. The things they are capable of doing, the things they do, and the sacrifices they've made are incredible."

One of Bundy's stories was about a technical sergeant he met in the deployment processing line two weeks before Christmas while he was the operations group commander at Dover AFB.

The NCO was crying because this was the third year out of four she was deploying before Christmas, leaving her three kids behind.

Bundy and the wing commander said, "You've done your share, you've served. Get out of the line."

She refused to step out of the line, even though the commanders insisted. She said if she didn't go, someone else would have to leave a family behind.

"And so we got a leadership lesson from a technical sergeant," Bundy said.

Bundy said the second biggest change he's seen in the Air Force since the 1960s has been the caliber, professionalism and dedication of reserve forces.

"It was real easy at McChord AFB, Wash., in 1974-1975, to walk around the base and see who was active duty and who was reserve. There were things they would do and things they wouldn't do," Bundy added. "There was a big gap between the active side and reserve side. I defy you now today not to find a highly qualified, highly professional reserve force that are our partners every day. I know they're great here at Charleston, I've seen them in action. They're very impressive.

"We can't get by a single day without the full support of our reserve forces," he said.

Bundy said his main message was, "You all are great Americans." He said, "You probably know that, but you don't know how great you are until you have the opportunity to go out in the world and work with other agencies.

"You can't imagine other people saying to you, 'I'll do that and I'll be there,' and they don't show up," Bundy added. "You don't see that. You really appreciate the value of this outstanding professional force you have here at Charleston, if you have to leave it."

Bundy stressed the importance of strategic mobility and rapid deployment, saying it's critical to our nation. "We cannot execute our national strategy, we cannot execute our plan of national engagement without Charleston AFB, the people here and all those airplanes on the ramp.

"There is no unimportant job at Charleston AFB, no matter what you're doing," he added. "Everyone, every day in the Air Force has to pursue excellence, because what you do is so important. We don't expect you to be perfect; we all make mistakes. We all learn from those mistakes. But you have to pursue excellence because your job is so important, you're so unique and we don't have enough of you."

Bundy continued, "There are very few segments of our society that are critically needed by our country. There are many important elements of this society, but you are critical to your country.

"Know that, remember it, take it to the bank," he said.

"You make an airlifter proud to be an airlifter," concluded Bundy, a C-141 and C-5 pilot. "I'm proud of you, and I want to thank you for that."

During his two-day visit to CAFB, Bundy also spoke to the Daedalians and the Company Grade Officers Council. (FROM CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE PUBLIC AFFAIRS).

Office of Public Affairs - transcom-pa@mail.mil
News Archive

Follow Us On:

Facebook      Instagram      Twitter      Flickr      LinkedIn


Connect to USTRANSCOM JECC AMC MSC SDDC
Office of Public Affairs|United States Transportation Command|Scott Air Force Base IL 62225-5357
This is a Department of Defense (DOD) computer system. Please read our Privacy, Accessibility, Use and Non-Endorsement Disclaimer Notice.