Photo By Tech. Sgt. Maria Ruiz | Chief Master Sgt. James Hotaling, Air National Guard command chief, speaks to the...... read more read more
WICHITA, Kan. - In any military branch, decisions come from the top of the chain of command. In the National Guard, the national decision makers are seldom seen or heard at a local level. Kansas Air National Guard’s enlisted force had an opportunity to interact with Chief Master Sgt. James Hotaling, command chief master sergeant of the Air National Guard, Sept. 5-7 and hear current information from the source.
“The Airmen got to see their Air National Guard primary representative firsthand and got to ask him questions,” said Chief Master Sgt. Russ Brotsky, command chief of the 184th Intelligence Wing. “It was big.”
On his visit to Kansas, Hotaling toured both wings and wanted to hear questions or concerns from the Airmen. “You can ask me anything you want,” said Hotaling. “The gloves are off and it can be about the highest level to whatever is happening here, you can ask me those questions.”
Airmen were interested in hearing about the new performance review procedures, fitness requirements, professional military education and future of the Guard retirement program. Hotaling answered the questions openly and honestly.
“One of the neat things about Chief Hotaling is that he is very candid on his answers and responses,” said Chief Master Sgt. Pat Moore, command chief of the 190th ARW. “You might not hear exactly what you want to hear from him, but he says exactly what the reality is.”
“He brought a great message,” said Master Sgt. Matt McCoy, 184th IW Public Affairs. “He created a vision using his aim points and talked about how we can use them to build a strong future for ourselves and the Air National Guard. His message was well-received by the Airmen who attended the all call.”
The visit also gave Kansas an opportunity to showcase the Family Program Support Services to Marie Hotaling, Chief Hotaling’s wife.
“One of the big things for Kansas that kind of went under the radar was that Marie Hotaling came to talk to our family services, the first state family services to be nationally accredited,” said Chief Master Sgt. James Brown, command chief of the Kansas Air National Guard. “So it was a really productive trip not only to have the command chief here, but also his wife.”
The visit gave the Airmen of the Kansas Air National Guard a chance to share their concerns and get some valuable information from national leadership.
“It was really good exposure for the Kansas Air National Guard,” said Brown. “We try to get the heavy hitter from the National Guard Bureau to visit as much as they can so we remain relevant and on their radar.”
| Date Taken: | 01.09.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 01.11.2015 15:49 |
| Story ID: | 151742 |
| Location: | WICHITA, KS, US |
| Web Views: | 36 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Kansas Airmen interact with national leadership, by Maj. Matthew Lucht, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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