Chief of staff visits Luke Published March 30, 2015 By Staff Sgt. Luther Mitchell Jr. 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. -- Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III and his wife, Betty, spent time meeting with Airmen and leadership Monday at Luke Air Force Base. Welsh highlighted Airman health, wellness and quality of life activities. He also reviewed the progress made in the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter training program at Luke. He began the day with 56th Fighter Wing leaders as he received a mission and community update briefing before traveling to the 61st Fighter Squadron for a fighter pilot roundtable. He then departed for the 944th FW hangar where he held an all-call for more than a thousand of Luke's Airmen. The hangar was packed with military and civilian Airmen who greeted Welsh with chuckles and a warm round of applause after he thanked them for "volunteering" to attend. He started off by thanking everyone for their service and saying how proud he is of them. "Let me just tell you, the number one reason I am here is to say thank you," Welsh said. "I get to travel all over the world to meet with combatant commanders in every region of the world, and I've got to tell you that they want more of you. Think back on the history of the United States Air Force and the Air Corps before it. It is a remarkably successful history and you all should be very proud of that." Welsh spoke about his father's service to the Air Force and how he considered him the ultimate Airman because of the pride he had for Airmen. He spoke about bettering communication through the ranks, taking better care of Airmen and the future keys to success. "The key to success going forward is common sense; the second thing is communication," Welsh said. "We have to apply common sense as the first standard in every situation. We have unbelievable amounts of talent sitting right here. Let's use it all and make ourselves smarter." Welsh then toured the F-35 Academic Training Center, where the first official class of F-35 student pilots is scheduled to begin May 4. He then conducted a roundtable discussion with group and squadron commanders. The visit to Arizona included stops at the various Air Force units around the state. Those stops also included time with the 161st Air Refueling Wing at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix and Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson.