Commander’s “Real Talk” assists with information flow at Bagram Published Jan. 12, 2010 By Staff Sgt. Richard Williams 455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- 455th Air Expeditionary Wing leadership has created a new avenue to answer questions from Airmen at Bagram Airfield, the Commander's Real Talk Line. What is this line, and why was it created? The answer is simple: to ensure information for Airmen flows from the top to the bottom, said Chief Master Sgt. Jeffery Cui, 455th AEW Command Chief. "The main purpose for the line's creation is to allow anyone assigned to the wing the ability to ask wing leadership questions, get rumor clarification or resolve any issues that the Airmen here may have that they are unable to answer at their level or don't know where to look," said Chief Cui. "We would like Airmen to not only use it to squash rumors, but also to find out information, not only on topics that affect them at Bagram Airfield but questions about Afghanistan as a whole," said Maj. Langdon Root, 455th AEW commander's executive officer. Chief Cui says the line is a non-attribution line so all questions are welcome within a reasonable scope and cautions that Airmen should use their chain of command to answer questions first. "As a young Airman, my supervisor always asked me to search for the answers to my questions first," Chief Cui said. "This way I would have an idea of where information was located and maybe I would run across information that would help me in the future." If the answers are unknown to immediate supervision, that is the perfect time to use the line, said Major Root. "The one thing that people need to remember is that although this is a non-attribution line, Airmen need to use common sense because inappropriate questions or comments will be channeled to your commander or first sergeant." "The questions are received and passed to the proper subject matter experts," said Chief Cui. "It may seem like I am providing all the answers, but chiefs, commander and first sergeants will be answering the questions and if we have to go to the top, we will to get the correct answers." Airmen may access the Real Talk Blog on the Bagram portal page under the Tools tab on the left column in the center of the page. Some of the topics already on the page are 455th AEW Airmen's eligibility for the NATO Medal and the rules set forth on Combat Zone Tax Exemption and Hostile Fire Pay, said Chief Cui. "The bottom line is that we want to help people get the information they need."