THE CHIEF
50 YEARS OF LEADERSHIP
Much of this history lesson of the First Chief’s comes from Charter CMSgt Jim Falschenriem, Father of the Charter Chief movement, from Charter Chief Ralph Schell, and the remainder is from the research of CMSgt (Ret) Andy Anderson.
THE HISTORY
One of the most significant events in the Air Force Enlisted History was the creation of the rank of E-9, the CHIEF MASTER SERGEANT.
The explosion of technology during and following World War II and Korea created the need for enlisted men with leadership and technical ability far above that normally expected of a Master Sergeant as well as more formal education. Congress created the super grades as a part of the Career Compensation Act of 1958 and decreed that 1% of the enlisted force could be in the pay grade E-9 and 2% in pay grade E-8. To be eligible for promotion to these grades, the enlisted man would be required to have at least 8 years enlisted service for E-8 and 10 Years for E-9.
The basic intent of Congress was to relieve the grade suppression and stagnation that had resulted from higher technical needs and faulty personnel programs. Grade suppression is one of those terms created by the military and in this case meant that MSgt’s were supervising other MSgt’s. Stagnation speaks for itself. There was no mandatory retirement or up or out program in effect at that time.
When the Career Compensation Act of 1958 was enacted, Air Force Personnel officials did an indepth study and grouped all career fields into one of three categories, HIGHLY TECHNICAL, TECHNICAL, or NON-TECHNICAL. These officials then determined that the HIGHLY TECHNICAL fields would receive more than the authorized 1% authorized by the original bill. The TECHNICAL fields would receive about 1% and the NON-TECHINICAL Fields under 1%.
Upon completion of the sturdy, Manpower Officials went to the manning documents and selected those Master Sergeant positions that required the higher grade and changed the slots to E-8 or E-9 as appropriate. This did not create new vacancies for promotion from TSgt to MSgt as each slot converted dropped as an E-7 and picked up as an E-8 or E-9.
The Air Force had a unique group of about 58,000 MSgts on board as a source to select the first super graders. They were men who grew up during the great depression when it was not unusual for young men to leave school at an early age to get jobs and help and in some case support their families. What these men lacked in formal education, they made up for in experience and knowledge gained in the school of hard knocks. Many were already in the service when WWII broke out. They served through the war, remained with the Army, transferred to the Air Force in 1947, served through the Haylift of 1948, the Berlin Airlift, Integration, Korea, and the massive retraining that took place when old propeller driven aircraft were replaced with jets as well as the explosion of technology that took place. They had been tried and tempered.
It was now time to make the promotions. Air Force opted to require 10 years of service for promotion to E-8 and 11 Years to E-9 rather then the 8 and 10 years established in the basic law. They also required that eligibles take and pass a written supervisory test with a percentile score of 90 or more. Since no such supervisory test had been written for this purpose, the supervisory portion of the Warrant Officer Test was used. This supervisory test was no problem for MSgts with good reading skills that had attended one of the NCO academies but presented an insurmountable obstacle for others.
This supervisory test would not have been a problem for the MSgt of today but many of the MSgts of that time could not read well enough to take and pass simple tests. An enlisted man with a high school education at that time was considered highly educated. Many of the officers on active duty did not have a day of college. The reading skills of many MSgts was so poor, they were unable to score high enough to get into the percentile rating. As an example of the education level, the background of one of the historians for this article attended a 1956 NCO Academy Class of 150 of the best MSgts in Fifteenth Air Force. Their average formal education according to their records was 10.8 years. This was probably a year of so higher than their actual education as records of that time reflected what the enlisted man told the classification clerk when initially interviewed for preparation of the personnel records. Formal education was not a prime factor to be a good soldier.
The first promotion boards were held at Command Level with the Field Grade Officers as members. Quotas and selections were made by AFSC for the first time. Board members looked at demonstrated leadership and supervisory ability, supervisor’s evaluations, commander’s recommendations, and best qualified. On 1 September 1958, 3400 of that 58,000 were selected for promotion to E-8, during the following year that number was narrowed to 1700 for promotion to E-9. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that most were not going to be promoted. The jealously among MSgts not selected was scandalous. You would still here old timers say they were so upset at not being selected, they retired or that there was a time when time in grade meant something. The greatest number of promotions went to Aircraft Maintenance Career Field.
The selection boards had a difficult role to play in the original selections as enlisted men did not have many, if any, performance reports in their files. The AIRMEN PERFORMANCE RATING SYSTEM had not come into being until the mid 1950’s. Prior to that, the only thing in the file was an entry on the service record that the individual was or was not recommended for the Good Conduct Medal made each time the individual was reassigned? Enlisted men got very few written commendations in those days. And, human nature being what it is, many of the old timers did everything in their power to keep from having one of those new fangled performance reports written on them.
Another factor was the number of eligibles with many years in grade. Thousands had been promoted to MSgt during WWII and had a date of rank in 1942, 43, 44, or 45. There was also large number of former officers who had been permitted to enlist in the Army Air Corps at the end of WWII in the grade of MSgt. These were mostly high school graduates who attended one of the officer training programs and were brought into the enlisted force without one days enlisted service and no enlisted skill.
Naturally, every MSgt on board felt he should be the first one promoted. Time in grade had been a primary factor in promotion for years and they felt their years in grade as MSgt made them the one the Air Force wanted as a super grader. There were 3400 SMSgt’s on board at that time and 1700 were selected for promotion to Chief with 625 to be promoted on 1 December 1959. The remaining 1075 would be promoted in 1 June of 1960 due to the financial impact on the then still struggling Air Force.
The selections were kept under lock and key until 1 December 1959. Announcement and promotion took place that day. There were no selection numbers as we know them today. The selectee was usually informed of his selection by his commander without great fanfare or induction ceremonies and sent back to work. The promotion of this small number resulted in there being 1 or 2 chiefs at each base at the most. The program did not explode like an atomic burst or a flowering bush in springtime. There were not enough Chiefs at any one location to make a great deal of difference and no standard of conduct or specials perks had been established for them. Most of those promoted were the movers and shakers who would have gravitated to the more responsible enlisted positions, so they saw little change, just a very minor pay raise. In 1959 a CMSgt with 30 Years drew $440.00 a month in 2006 the same chief with 30 Years drew, $5954.70. The new Chief’s were treated more with curiosity than anything else, continued in the same job, and continued to be addressed as Sergeant.
Prior to the promotions, many ideas for perks and standards of conduct had been bounced off the walls. High on the list was that they be addressed as Chief. It is not known why Air Staff did not adopt this term of address from the get go. Perhaps it was because they didn’t want to be confused with the Navy Chief. Or perhaps because we still had Warrant Officers on board who were Chief Warrant Officers. Other ideas that were run through the system, were that the Chief be entitled to a salute and be addressed as sir by junior enlisted personnel, scrambled eggs of their garrison cap visor, a yellow stripe down their trouser leg, a different uniform, and special housing entitlements. None of these ideas came to fruition and the new Chief just sewed on another stripe and got the miniscule pay raise. The program, a jewel in the rough, was cast adrift to sink or swim on its own.
Through the perseverance of many and the efforts of our forefathers the program did swim. The Charter Chief’s served with dignity and they established the highest standards of leadership. They forged the ground rules for Chief’s to come. As additional Chief’s were promoted, Chief’s Groups came into being. The Chief’s worked together. Still addressed as Sergeant, they petitioned to be called Chief but to no avail. When the first CMSAF came on the scene in 1967, he was still addressed as Sergeant. It is unconscionable for you and I to consider calling CMSAF #1 Paul W. Airey as Sergeant. In the early 1970’s Chiefs took it upon themselves to call each other Chief. Soon the SMSgt’s were calling them Chief and soon the rest fell inline, finally Air Staff saw the handwriting on the wall and made the term of address permanent and official.
The Senior NCO Academy came into being in the early 70’s accompanied by a new caliber of officer leadership. USAF Academy graduates were becoming field grade officers and a new wave of cooperation and respect was apparent. The Academy grads had grown up with the Chief Program and shared a deep mutual respect. It was not uncommon for the Chief to have as much or more formal education as the officer. No more enlisted men who couldn’t read well enough to take a simple promotion test. Soon other high profile Chief’s came on the scene. Senior Enlisted Advisors, Commandants of NCO Academies, Leadership Schools, and today Chief’s filling Command Chief Billets. During the adolescent period of the new rank Air Force Sergeants Association was formed and flowered, their contributions to the blossoming of the Chief Program were boundless.
And so the prestige of the rank of Chief flowered and today is one of the most respected ranks in the Air Force. The Chief does not manage by fear or intimidation as the First Sergeant did; but by knowledge, training and great leadership ability.
Somewhere along the line a group of those Founding Fathers sat down and decided the following would be the kind of code they lived and worked by so 48 years ago this is what they decided would be the basics.
A total selflessness, where you are willing to commit yourselves to the unit, to the mission, to the people and to subordinates. That includes setting the example and maintaining integrity so people know they can believe and accept whatever comes out of your mouth. It also includes concern for people and a willingness to roll up your sleeves and pitch in until the work is done rather than sitting back and directing.
Knowledge, ability, initiative, integrity, compassion and sound judgement based on facts. It’s important to “show the way” instead of just demanding performance and criticizing people when they don’t do a job just the way you wanted it. Integrity, enthusiasm, positivism, emotional stability, loyality (both up and down the chain), good common sense, a sense of fairness, concern for the people you are responsible for and an ability to emphathize not sympathize with people and their problems.
A “Chief” has to be honest, he or she must be sincere and he or she must be able to communicate. A “Chief” today must have that extra energy. A “Chief” has to be visable, no matter how many hours a day it takes; he or she has to be there. He or she must work harder, concentrate longer and go the extra distance to get the job done. A “Chief” has to be looked up to, to mirror the qualities he or she wants to instill. Above all, he or she must be above approach.
So 49 years ago today the Air Force determined 625 would be promoted. Those are the “Charter Chiefs” our “Founding Fathers”.