AETC’s highest enlisted member visits Laughlin

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Blake Mize
  • 47th Flying Training Wing, public affairs
LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  One of the most accomplished leaders in the Air Force's enlisted corps visited Laughlin Dec. 3 to speak to the enlisted members here, meet with Laughlin's senior enlisted leaders and tour the base.

Chief Master Sgt. Robert Tappana, command chief master sergeant of Air Education and Training Command, spoke to Laughlin's Airmen about many things including the Air Force's new physical training program and the need to protect military computers from hackers.

Chief Tappana entered the Air Force in September 1979 when he went through basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base. His background is in traffic management and he has been stationed all over the world. He has been a command chief master sergeant for a number of wings since 2001 including a deployed location, Manas Air Base, Kyrgz Republic from Sept. 2004 to Jan. 2005. He has been the command chief of AETC since August 2008.

"It was very exciting to see someone that has been in the Air Force for such a long time with the service and credentials that he has," said Airman 1st Class Anthony Nelson, 47th Comptroller Squadron."It was nice to know that he wanted to see what we had to say and what we thought about certain topics."

Chief Tappana spoke at length about the Air Force's newly implemented PT program. He spoke of the importance of a healthy lifestyle and gave the reasoning behind some of the changes to the program, which include increases in the age range for PT test requirements that now require some older Airmen who were previously held to separate, less strenuous standards, to meet the same standards as younger Airmen.

"Based on the data used to determine the standards, it's a reasonable expectation," said Chief Tappana in response to a question about the change.

He also said that the responsibility lies with each individual Airman to maintain a proper level of physical fitness and to live a healthy lifestyle.

"It's up to you. It's a choice. Let's make some good choices," he said. "It's not fit for test, it's fit for life."

Chief Tappana also talked about why it is so important to maintain a high level of security on military computer networks. He said in these technologically advanced times, we should think of our computers just as we think of the front gates of our bases - with the highest level of security possible.

"If I were going to take on the U.S., I wouldn't be building the F-25, something better than the F-22. I would be taking every young hacker I could find in my country and giving them whatever resources they wanted to try and weaken us because that's where our Achilles heel is," said Chief Tappana. "If we saw armed troops coming toward the front gate, we would all gear up and go out there and meet them. We need to start thinking of our computers the same way."

AETC's highest enlisted member also explained the NCO Retraining Program and some of the changes to the Air Force's uniform policies and talked about the Air Force's need to centralize its email, among other things.

The topic that seemed to hold the attention of the crowd as much as anything else, however, was his response to a question about President Obama's plan to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan in the near future. Chief Tappana explained that there is no scenario he can foresee that would have the Air Force's role in Operation Enduring Freedom decreasing or even staying the same with so many more troops headed there.

"We are part of a joint and international team and we'll do our part to meet the needs of the joint forces commander," said Chief Tappana.

Chief Tappana's visit also included a breakfast with Laughlin's first sergeants and a lunch with the chief master sergeants assigned here. He also toured the enlisted dormitories and visited the Airman and Family Readiness Center and the 47th Medical Group. He was escorted by Chief Master Sgt. Mike Hanning, 47th Flying Training Wing command chief master sergeant, and his visit concluded with an official meeting with Col. Jeffrey McDaniels, 47th Flying Training Wing commander.