379th AEW welcomes new command chief

Published June 29, 2007
By Senior Airman Clark Staehle
379th Air Expeditionary Wing

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- What do you get when you combine 26 years of Air Force experience with five Air Force specialty codes and a Pittsburg Steelers fan from Asheville, Penn.? You have Chief Master Sergeant Lloyd "Joe" Hollen, the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing's newest command chief.

Chief Hollen recently left his wife, Carol, in command of the household and their two sons, Terry and Greg in Tampa, Fla., to be here as the wing's lead enlisted Airman. He took a moment to share some of his professional experience and personal philosophies.

The Desert Eagle: As the new 379th AEW command chief, what are your top three priorities?

Chief Master Sgt. Lloyd "Joe" Hollen: My priorities are Brig. Gen. Charlie Lyon's priorities, (379th Air Expeditionary Wing commander), but as the wing command chief I personally want to make sure that people are taken care of. We have people coming here who are working hard, working long hours, so one of my priorities is to make sure they're taken care of.

Secondly, when Airmen go back to their home station, I want them to share all their experiences and knowledge about their deployment here with other Airmen in their work centers, so the people who follow in their footsteps will know what's expected of them.
My third priority is along the journey I think we need to relax and try to have a little bit of fun. People will be coming back to this base for years and years, so I think we need to work hard, but we also need to laugh a little bit and relax. Those three things are important.

DE: Do you have any long-term goals you'd like to achieve while you're here?

Chief Hollen: My only goal is to see everyone go home tired, but to see everyone go home. I want to send everyone home safely.

DE: Do you think it's important for Airmen to get out of their dorm rooms and stay active?

Chief Hollen: Absolutely. We have the Desert Five council for staff sergeants and below. We also have the Top Four for technical sergeants to chief master sergeants. If everybody on the base got involved in these two organizations, they would find themselves out of their dorm rooms a lot more. There's just too much to do here to stay inside their dorm room. Supervisors are the key ... they must energize their Airmen to get involved!

How about I give you two things to work on while you're here? One is physical fitness. You can come here and in four months you can reshape your body. You can improve on your PT score if you want to, or you can get in better shape. Two, we have a great education office here. We have a lot of people on the base right now who are taking courses. I know of at least a half dozen people who are taking courses on-line. CLEP tests are also available to all personnel. What a great opportunity!

From the councils to self improvement, from education to PT, there is no reason why someone should come here and sit around for 16 or 17 weeks. It's not healthy and staying active will make the time go quickly. I think young folks, especially our youngest Airmen, need to go and see their first sergeant and ask them for help getting involved in base activities.

DE: As a command chief, what was your most memorable and beneficial assignment?

Chief Hollen: The best assignment I've ever had is the one I'm currently in at the time. I make the best of all my assignments. The changes I've made in my career path have given me a much broader scope. I have five Air Force specialty codes - security forces, intelligence, first sergeant, group superintendent and command chief. I think all those different duty descriptions and opportunities throughout my career have given me a great deal of experience and made me a better supervisor and leader.

DE: What is the best advice you've received during your entire career?

Chief Hollen: "Find people doing things right and tell them about it." Too many times we talk about what's broken and what's wrong and what needs to be fixed. Not that we should discount that, but I think we need to focus on the positives versus the negatives. The bottom line is simple: we have Airmen of all ranks doing a phenomenal job and we need to focus on that and not on the small, small percentage of issues and problems.

DE: Is there any advice you didn't receive early on that you wish you had?

Chief Hollen: No, I was fairly fortunate. I had some tremendous supervisors early in my career and they were the most critical. The worst thing we can do is give an Airman a poor supervisor, because then they've already started off on the wrong foot with the wrong guidance.

The first two years of an Airman's career are critical in establishing a strong foundation, comparable to the foundation of a home. If the foundation has cracks, the house will fall. If the foundation is solid, the house will stand tall.

Are the supervisors setting the standards and expectations or aren't they? If the answer is no, it's the Airman who suffers the consequences. There will be problems with behavior, leadership, job knowledge, promotion and eventually retention. The key to this is the Airman's first supervisor being a good leader to them.

I like setting the bar high, but I like helping the Airman get there. Set the bar high and help an Airman achieve those objectives. Make them hungry.

DE: What is one thing Airmen do well?

Chief Hollen: When we were attacked on 9/11, which was almost six years ago, today's 18-year-old was 12 years old at the time. Airmen continue to volunteer and serve. There are approximately 365 million people in the United States. There are 2.3 million people in the military. We represent .06 percent of the total U.S. population so the other 99.4 percent can enjoy freedom. What do they do well? They answered the bell. If you look up the definition of hero it will say "a man or woman of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his or her brave deeds and noble qualities." That definition fits our military perfectly. What better noble quality is there than to serve one's country?

DE: What is one thing Airmen could do better?

Chief Hollen: I don't really think there's anything Airmen do that bothers me because when people are young, they're going to make mistakes. I think it's okay to make mistakes, but when they're identified and corrected and Airmen continue to make those mistakes, it bothers me. Don't get me wrong, it's okay to make mistakes. I didn't go through 26 years without making mistakes. However, I would like to think I didn't repeat them.

DE: How do you feel about being given the opportunity to be the 379th AEW command chief?

Chief Hollen: As I get to the tail-end of my career, I can't think of any better year to look back on and it gives me a sense of pride to be the senior enlisted leader for all these great young Americans.

If I can help people accomplish some of their goals while they're here, that's icing on the cake. I am extremely blessed and very thankful that General Lyon has given me this opportunity. It's all about making the 379th AEW better for the Airmen who follow.