What will your legacy be? Make the present count

  • Published
  • By Chief Master Sgt. Michael Biondo
  • 60th Maintenance Group
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Since I supervised my first Airman nearly 21 years ago, it has amazed me how many in the enlisted corps don't want that next stripe. I've heard all kinds of reasons like "I love the job I'm doing now," "I'll get orders if I get promoted," "I won't be eligible for an assignment to (name the place) if I get promoted" and even "I don't want the added responsibility."

Unfortunately, some master sergeants today take it to the extreme of making themselves unpromotable by failing to complete their Community College of the Air Force or Professional Military Education requirements. Although this mindset might meet the individual's needs and desires, it does not measure up to our Air Force core values. If, at this point you're thinking,

"Sorry, chief, I don't see that correlation," let me explain.

The "Little Blue Book," also known as your basic guide to the Air Force core values, breaks down each core value into its integral parts. For example, courage--doing what is right even when personal cost is high--is integral to integrity first.

In other words, doing what it takes to get promoted even though it may mean working longer hours, taking on more responsibility or giving up that dream assignment may come at a high personal cost. However, without the right leaders in the right positions to properly execute the mission, the Air Force's readiness suffers.

Likewise, having faith in the system is an integral component of service before self.

The "Little Blue Book" states "that to lose faith in the system is to place self before service." The Air Force promotion system is designed to identify and promote those who are ready to perform at the next level. By failing to complete our requirements to be competitive, i.e, failing to complete CCAF or PME, we are taking a view that we know better than those in the chain of command who have implemented the promotion system. We are manipulating the system to work for our desires versus for the benefit of the Air Force. The right thing to do is complete all prerequisites for promotion and let the promotion system decide who is most eligible.

That brings us to personal excellence, a key component of excellence in all we do.

Personal excellence, simply stated, is completing PME, staying physically and mentally fit and pursuing education. According to the latest Air Force personnel statistics available from the Air Force Personnel Center website, only 69.7 percent of master sergeants have completed their CCAF degree, while only 64.6 percent have completed their PME.

When we look at those with more than 20 years of service facing high year of tenure in the near future, the numbers drop to 63.8 percent with a CCAF degree and 61.8 percent with PME completed. However, only 50.8 percent have completed both. Since completion of CCAF and PME is tied to senior rater endorsement, this places 49.2 percent of our master sergeants in peril of forced retirement during the next four years if their promotion board score does not recover from an Enlisted Performance Report closing out below senior rater.

Our Air Force has never had more talent, but to leave our noncommissioned officer corps to recover from that kind of loss in leadership is asking more than we as senior NCOs have a right. For those who have accepted the challenge, I applaud you. But to my fellow senior NCOs out there who have not, I must ask: After more than 20 years of devotion and sacrifice to your Air Force, is this really the legacy you want to leave behind?