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380AEW Article

Q and A with Command Chief Alkhoury

  • Published
  • By Senior Master Sgt. Eric Peterson
  • 380th Air Expeditionary Wing
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  380th Air Expeditionary Wing Command Chief Master Sgt. Samer Alkhoury has served in the top enlisted position at the base at the undisclosed location in Southwest Asia for more than two months. We asked if he would share some of his past Air Force experience and his vision and goals as he serves in his new command chief position.

He spent nearly one hour answering our questions, stopping only once to listen in reverence as the bugle call "Retreat" sounded and the recording of "The Star Spangled Banner" played over the wing public address system.

Q: Could you please provide a brief history of your Air Force career?
A: I started out in July of 1986 as an air transportation specialist. I just hit my 28th year in July and it's been a phenomenal run for me. My job was dealing with predominantly air transportation, passengers and cargo. Anything that had to move by air, we handled it. It was a very robust mobility mission.

I learned the tricks of the trade at my first base at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. One of the reasons I joined the service was to travel and see the world, but the Air Force didn't see fit for that in my first assignment. I was there for six and a half years. Desert Shield, Desert Storm happened while I was stationed there.

From there I moved on to Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany, which is no longer with us. I did two years there and that was an eye-opener for me. I would say that was my initial motivation in the Air Force to start making rank. I hit the books hard that year and that's when I made staff sergeant, and I think I made it by 60 points.

I moved on from there to McCord Air Force Base in Washington, and continued my journey in the career field. That was a highly-deployed location.

My next assignment was to Ramstein Air Base, Germany. I've done three tours in Germany since I've been in. I love the place and have been lucky enough to get to experience it three times. That's where I made the next couple of ranks, I made tech and master when I was in Germany. I learned the promotion system and realized that if you study hard you'll promote.

After Ramstein I went to Hawaii. I was a senior master sergeant when I left there.

I next went to Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea, and tested for chief while I was there.

When I moved back to Ramstein, that was my follow-on assignment. I found out I had made chief six days after I arrived at my new duty station. I lucked out and got to take over the best squadron in the aerial port community.

I served at the squadron level for about two and a half years, and then the group commander wanted me to be the group superintendent.

From there I got to be the command chief for the 515th Air Mobility Operations Wing out of Hickam, and then the journey brings me here.

Q: Did you always have a goal to rise to the top and become a command chief?
A: I would say the point where I really aspired to be a chief was when I put on master. I'm a very competitive kind of guy. To me, it was almost like a competition with some of my peers at that point. At the same time I also looked at it as an opportunity to lead at a bigger level and try to shape the careers of a lot of Airmen.

There were three chiefs who actually influenced me to get where I'm at today. They saw that I had that servant-leader mentality, that it wasn't about me and that I was always taking care of my Airmen. They appreciated that in me.

My vector has always been about taking care of those who's care has been entrusted to me because I felt like that was an honor and a privilege that families send these young Airmen to join the Air Force and they trust us with them.

Becoming a command chief is a very stringent process to go through. Out of 3500 chiefs in the Air Force, they push only 360 records that go up to meet the board. And out of those, only 180 make it to the final list that year to be nominated to be command chiefs. Out of those, only 80 get to go and become command chiefs.

Q: Out of the numerous responsibilities you must focus on, what do you think is the most important thing you do for the organization?
A: We have a lot of young Airmen in our wing and I think we need to help them set some goals and aspirations for their careers and lives. A lot of them come here with goals set in mind, such as losing weight or finishing their degree, but some come here without any purpose. It's up to us to help them find that, whether it's through a professional organization or a professional development seminar. So I would say professional development and mentorship. When we do that for our Airmen, we're investing in their future.

Q: How well do the Air Force core values fit for a deployed Airman?
A: I think all three of them are extremely crucial to day-to-day operations. To me, I think our Airmen have already hit the mark with service before self, because they're deployed away from family and friends. They've done that throughout their career, whether they are a first-term Airman or a career Airman.

Integrity is a character that's built in with a lot of our Airmen and they do extremely well with that.

I think the one that really applies the most for us here is excellence in all we do. Because you should come with the mindset for excellence and ask yourself, "how can I make my job better, how can I make myself better, how can I improve operations on the flightline or how can I take care of what's entrusted to me?"

If Airmen want to focus on one core value that can really help them be successful in the Air Force, it would be excellence in all we do.

We see a lot of changes coming down the road for us with the enlisted evaluation system and the promotion system. We're going to key in on that even more now.

We want to promote only the most capable and ready to serve at the next level Airmen or NCOs, and we're going to let the record speak for itself, their performance on the job and the excellence they bring day in and day out to do their mission.

Q: What should Airmen know most about what you can do for them?
A: The most important part is to know what the challenges are. We can't help if we don't know. I would say the most important piece is for them to let us know what the challenges are that they face out there.

I want to really hear what the challenges are that they face day-in and day-out. We may not be able to fix it immediately, we might not be able to fix it tomorrow, but we're going to leave it better than we found it for the next person. We can help, but we can't help without knowing.

Q: What are some of the good programs that are in use that can recognize the outstanding Airmen here at the wing?
A: We have quite a few actually, we just need to leverage them a little bit better.
From my level I have the Airmen Committed to Excellence Award. Anybody can nominate someone they see doing something awesome. Or it could be just them doing their job to the best of their ability, whether it's cleaning an air conditioner or fixing a jet. Whatever it is, it's Airmen committed to excellence.

We also have the Bi-monthly Awards, which are similar to the quarterly awards back at home station.

All of our professional organizations have them. But the most important award that I like to focus on is just personal recognition. It's taking the time out to go around the flightline, maybe have a cooler of water, some cookies, and just say thank you. I think that in itself is priceless in some of our Airmen's minds.

The other form of recognition is just taking the time to talk to folks. If the Airman is willing to take the time to start telling me something about their story, I should not be in a rush to end it and move on. Whatever's waiting for me in the next hour or so probably can wait. I want the Airman to know that they are a priority when I'm there.

Q: What advice do you have for our younger Airmen who may find themselves in an evolving Air Force?

A: I love the changes that are happening in our Air Force right now. One of the biggest ones is that we're boarding our technical sergeants to master sergeants.

I've always considered the senior NCO corps a special privilege that some people get the honor to be a part of. We were rewarding longevity, not excellence. I like the idea of rewarding excellence now. That's why this whole promotion system is changing right now. Even the EPRs are going to focus on duty performance. It really needs to be 90 percent of why we are giving an Airman a five. Not because you're a volunteer, not because of your education, those are critical points, but we've lost our focus.

The focus should have been always, "can you do your job, can you lead your Airmen, can you execute the mission?"

The advice I would give our Airmen is to have a purpose and have a vision for yourself, but do everything with excellence. Come in with a mentality of, "how can I make it better, how can I train someone else to do it better?"

I've always believed my Airmen's success is my success. The bottom line is: come in to make a difference and if you care-and that's a big word in my vocabulary-if you care about the Airmen that we're entrusting you with, that to me is what a true NCO is.

If you really want to go far in the Air Force take that word "care" and really apply it to everything you do.

The other piece with this evolving environment in the Air Force is
making yourself competitive.

If you really want to be a tech. sergeant and you're a staff sergeant today, you need to look at what tech. sergeants are doing and start emulating that. Prepare yourself so when you get to the tech. sergeant level you are ready to execute. The development piece happens day-in and day-out.

The other advice I would give is that there are other opportunities that come knocking at your door. You can say no to them and lose a great opportunity to develop yourself, or you can say yes and learn a lot and make yourself a lot more marketable. Take full advantage of those opportunities, they don't come knocking very often and those are the kinds of things that make you stand out.

Q: Thank you very much for your time today, Chief Alkhoury. Is there anything else that we haven't discussed that you'd like to add?
A: I am just the luckiest man alive without a doubt in my mind.

The last thing I want Airmen to know is that it is an honor and a privilege to serve with them, that I'm here to hopefully make a difference in their lives and make sure that we continue to enjoy the freedom that we have every day.

Freedom's not free. There are a lot of folks that went before us that paid for it with their blood, sweat and tears, and it is an honor for us to continue that tradition and continue to provide that freedom for our countrymen and women that enjoy it day-in and day-out.