Photo By Airman 1st Class Helen Ly | Retired Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James A. Roy poses in front of a wheel...... read more read more
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MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla.— MacDill Air Force Base helped lay the foundation for James Roy, who began as an Airman Basic and rose to become the 16th Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force. Roy returned to MacDill after 43 years to mentor chief master sergeant selectees and develop Airmen across the enlisted force.
Roy spent time reconnecting with the base and its Airmen during his visit. He mentored the chief selects in addition to other leadership Airmen courses, met with leadership across MacDill and revisited his old stomping grounds at the 6th Civil Engineer Squadron.
In 1983, Roy arrived at MacDill fresh out of technical training as a 3E2X1, pavement and construction equipment Airman, or “dirt boy.” Roy’s first supervisor, Technical Sgt. Nathan Heard, helped shape his development as an Airman and played a key role in the leader he would later become as the 16th CMSAF.
“I didn’t have a car when I first arrived at MacDill,” said Roy. “Sergeant Heard would pick me up to go to work every day. I’m very thankful for Sgt. Heard, for taking care of his Airmen, making sure myself and my family were taken care of getting settled here, and also for making sure I was mission ready and focused.”
That level of care and accountability left a lasting impression on Roy.
“We all had the same supervisor who held us to the same standard,” said Roy. “That is who I am today.”
The Air Force has changed a lot in four decades but there are some things that never change.
“The Airmen that are assigned here, just like when I was here in 1983, are mission focused,” said Roy. “[MacDill is a] strategically important base to our nation and it’s the people and Airmen that support everybody else here that make it.”
Once a “dirt boy” at MacDill, Roy returned with a different mission: to help develop the next generation of Airmen by reinforcing the lessons that carried him to the Air Force’s highest enlisted rank.
| Date Taken: | 03.24.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 03.26.2026 16:12 |
| Story ID: | 561394 |
| Location: | MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 116 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Laying the Foundation: A Dirt Boy’s Rise to CMSAF, by A1C Helen Ly, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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