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Deployed command chief hits 30-year-mark

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Michael O'Connor
  • 386th Air Expeditionary Wing public affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  An American Airman and warrior assigned to the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing answered his nation's call June 12, 1978 by enlisting in the Air Force as a vehicle dispatcher and mechanic for a four-year enlistment.

Three decades of service later, Chief Master Sgt. Carl Hunsinger, the 386th AEW command chief master sergeant is retiring from active duty.

"To close out my career with the 386th AEW ... it's absolutely amazing," said Chief Hunsinger. "This 12-month deployment has been an opportunity of a lifetime ... an opportunity that you can only dream of as a senior enlisted leader."

Faithful to a proud heritage, the war-fighting chief who last deployed to northern Iraq in 2004-05, joins his father who served during World War II as a boatsman's mate in the U.S. Navy, and his brother as a U.S. Marine in the Gulf War.

"What a great way to end a career," said the chief. "To finish up 30 years with detainee, convoy and flying operations, and all the support entities that make the 386th AEW's mission here a success. It doesn't get better than this."

INTEGRITY, SERVICE, EXCELLENCE

After graduating from Bradford High School, in Starke, Fla., in 1975, the chief became a police officer and worked at a correctional institution seeking a career in law enforcement or criminal justice. The chief said he learned there is more to life than just where you are at in a town as he met and talked with military and retired military members in the communities he worked.

"They told me about the great life and career they had while serving in the military and I thought to myself, that's something I want to do -- to go and see the world," said the chief. "In 1976, I almost enlisted in the Army, but I changed my mind at the 11th hour at the military entrance processing station and later joined the Air Force in 1978. I really only planned to come in for four years, but as you can see, 30 years is what I got out of four years."

LIFETIME OF CHANGE

Since enlisting, he's become good at adapting and overcoming change. During his tenure, he served under the command of five U.S. presidents, 11 chief of staffs and 11 chief master sergeants of the Air Force.

"You will go through very many leaders of our country and Air Force during a 30 year career. That's just the way it works out," said Chief Hunsinger. "When I came in, Jimmy Carter was our commander in chief.

"I've been in half of the age of the Air Force and what has happened is remarkable," he said. "We train and equip our Airmen much better today. So much so that having an associates degree is not exceptional, it's becoming the norm. We have a highly educated service, and we have changed incredibly through the years."

The chief, like many Airmen, learned one has to be able to role with the punches and to adapt and overcome in order to be successful over the long haul, both at work and at home.

"I think my father's ability to compartmentalize and prioritize everything going on his life is the reason he's done so well in the Air Force and at home," said Cadet Christopher Hunsinger, a 20-year-old junior at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, the youngest of the chief's three children. "He knows when to work hard and when to play hard. He definitely knew how to be an Airman and when to be a dad with us. I think his versatility to do that is what helped him be so successful throughout his career."

BREAD AND BUTTER

This seasoned American Airman has taken advantage of his opportunity to get out and see what's going on in the world and has learned what it feels like first-hand to serve in a military uniform as a guardian of freedom and justice.

"I've seen so many before I joined the Air Force in uniform that retired or simply just did four or eight years and talked to them and thought what a great adventurous way to do something," said the chief who's currently on his twelfth and final assignment. "I remember my first assignment to Dyess Air Force Base in Abeline, Texas, as if it were yesterday. I was out on the flightline as an airman basic during a base 'open house' and a reporter walked up and asked me what I was doing out there with a stick and nail, and a bag.

"I said, I'm not just out here picking up trash, what I'm out here doing is I'm making sure we don't have damage to a 500,000 dollar jet engine or even a multi-million dollar aircraft. That's why I existed and why I was picking up that trash called foreign object debris," said the chief. "So I see more to it, the cup is always half full. The bread and butter of my career has been my ability to see things outside of where I'm standing or sitting. There's much more to an Air Force career and there's much, much more than what most people see simply within their career field. They have to broaden and I have been able to do that in my career as part of my breath of experience by getting outside and doing more things. No matter how meaningful it is or meaningless it seems to others, I've gotten so much experience out of doing that."

MEMORY OF A LIFETIME

As the chief closes out his career as his nation's sword and shield, he continues to defend his country with his life as a deployed command chief to more than 3,000 deployed Airmen who fly, fight, 'drive' and win. Along the way, the chief said he has racked up an unimaginable amount of memories as an Airman, husband and father.

"The most memorable occasion in my career didn't come until my 26th year in the Air Force," said the chief. "Two basic military training instructors approached me while I was on temporary duty to Lackland Air Force Base for the first basic combat convoy course."

As fate would have it, it happened to be June 12, 2004, and the building, floor and dormitory he went into were the exact same from when he first began BMT 26 years ago to the day with the 3701st and Flight 491.

"They asked me if I'd come up and motivate some of their brand new Airmen who just began their training," said the chief. "So I said of course, I could never say no, no matter how tired I was. It was pretty nice to be able to see brand new Airmen in our Air Force and to be able to talk with them and motivate them was a very memorable moment for me, and of course, the most memorable deployment doing convoy operations in Iraq followed that training."

FAMILY UNIT

Serving in the military during a time of peace with a bountiful force of more than 550,000 Airmen back in the early 1980s was great for family life. Sprinkle on nearly 20 years of constant wartime operations with a significantly smaller force just over the 320,000 mark, and family life can become a challenge when an Airman is constantly answering their nation's call abroad and leaving their family behind.

"My wife was in the Air Force when I met her in 1982, so she kind of understood already what the Air Force and military was all about," said the chief. "My two sons and daughter have endured many temporary duties, deployments, and many changes in assignments. I think they actually got the pluses and benefits out of us being stationed in places like Japan, Germany, and Hawaii twice as they were able to see different cultures and attend different schools. My entire family has done great by me ... it's been one team getting through these 30 years of my career."

THE FINAL FRONTIER

June 12, 2008, marked the beginning of the chief's thirty-first year on active-duty. As this war-fighting veteran prepares to make the final turn in a journey spanning three decades of service, he paused for a moment to reflect on today's expeditionary Airmen; his fellow wingmen, leaders and warriors.

"Today's expeditionary Air Force has changed quite a bit since the Cold War days in the way we prepare," said Chief Hunsinger. "Today, I tell Airmen to always be ready. Don't always be ready just for your military piece of the deployment, be ready for your family, be ready for your immediate family, and everybody else that you leave behind so they don't have to deal with so much while you're deployed.

"Airmen should also prepare themselves not just physically, but mentally as well," said the chief. "It's very important for an Airman to be ready as a whole person to deploy at any given time. While we have an expeditionary timetable set up, it's not unusual for our Airmen to deploy with very, very little notice. So always being ready will always make you successful."

Chief Hunsinger, an American Airman who fulfilled his mission to fly, fight, 'drive' and win, will celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary June 21, his retirement July 31 back at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., and officially hang-up his Airman Battle Uniform on Nov. 1. In May 2009, the chief will render his son, Cadet Christopher Hunsinger his first salute upon graduating from college, as a commissioned officer in the Air Force.

"He's going to be my first salute," said Cadet Hunsinger. "I've been looking forward to receiving that from him on my graduation/commissioning day for a long, long time."