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CMSAF Murray visits Tyndall, discusses hot topics

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Sarah McDowell
  • 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AETCNS) --  During Force Shaping, an ongoing process to balance manning in the Air Force, the enlisted force will increase and the officer corps will decrease, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Gerald Murray said during his visit here.

While at Tyndall, the chief attended the Senior Enlisted Leaders Air Expeditionary Force Conference held Nov. 8-10. He also took time out to explain some of the hot topics in the Air Force today.

First up was the Air Force Climate Survey, which started Oct. 1 and ends Nov. 23. The survey is a tool senior leaders use to gauge what is at the forefront of Airmen's minds

"The purpose of the survey is to truly get to know how the people view the force," he said. "In the past, these surveys have helped the Air Force improve manpower and lessen stress factors during deployment."

The recent deployment of active duty and guard troops during the hurricane season helped the Air Force gauge the enlisted force's ability to activate during non-standard contingencies.

"Our military responded extremely well to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita," he said. "We saved lives from the very beginning of the storms, and we used lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina to respond better to Hurricane Rita."

The chief also said Air Expeditionary Force support remains about the same as last year as far as ongoing overseas contingencies.

"We have about 32,000 of our Airmen overseas right now. About 20,000 of those Airmen are in Southeast Asia and about 12,000 are in Korea. Sixty-five percent of those Airmen are engaged in combat," Chief Murray said.

Many of those Airmen are doing jobs the chief never would have envisioned them doing. "Airmen are participating in vehicle operations, prison operations and civil engineer combat in conjunction with the Corps of Army Civil Engineers in Iraq - just to name a few. It is a lot different from when I came in."

One thing that hasn't changed, however, is the Air Force's attitude toward fitness. Chief Murray was able to clear up a rumor suggesting the fitness test might be directly related to the Enlisted Performance Report and Officer Performance Report.

"The fitness test is a standard," he said. "There has always been a block on the EPR/OPR for the supervisor to gauge fitness and at this time we are not changing that."

One thing the Air Force does want to shift is the mindset about sexual assault.

"We are not dealing with an Air Force problem when it comes to sexual assault; it is a social problem," he said. "My hope is that with the education being provided, it will bring zero tolerance to the forefront. I applaud the Air Force for providing education and anonymous ways to report assault."