Q&A A Lesson in Heritage with the 8th CMSAF Published Feb. 14, 2008 By Airman 1st Class Stephen Linch 509th Bomb Wing Public Affairs WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. -- (Editor's note: Sam Parish is the eighth Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force. As CMSAF, he advised secretaries of the Air Force Verne Orr and Russell A. Rourke and Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Charles A. Gabriel. Chief Parish advised them on matters concerning welfare, effective utilization and progress of the enlisted members of the Air Force. Chief Parish recently sat down with Airman 1st Class Stephen Linch for an interview during his visit to Whiteman Feb 7-9.) What is your leadership philosophy? I think we have a word game in our Air Force, and we talk about leadership philosophy. If you have to sit down and talk about leadership philosophy; you have probably come up short. Leadership to me is doing those things that are necessary for our people and our Air Force to make sure that everything is done the way it is suppose to be done, and it can be done walking around, but it sure as hell is not sitting up philosophizing about leadership. It is demonstrating to the people that you care, that you will do the things necessary for them and you will hold them responsible, and in return you will reward them for doing the things they are required to do. Taking care of them - that to me is what leadership is all about. Now is that a philosophy? I don't know. Why are you visiting Whiteman? I am the guest speaker at Whiteman's Annual Award Banquet. I am going to talk about our enlisted Airmen and give them a lesson in heritage, where we came from and where we are at today. This will be the Parish version of where I see the Air Force has come from and where we need to go. What was your best day in the Air Force? How can you say what was your best day in 32 years? They were all good days! What has changed since you were in the Air Force? Since I retired in 1986 everything has changed. The people have changed the most and by that I mean people like yourself. Never in the history of the world if you had told me we would get the quality of Airmen in our Air Force that we are getting would I have believed you when I was a young non-commissioned officer or even an Airman. The young Airmen are coming to us because they want to. We are at war, and they are still coming to us. They know what they want to do with their life, and they can do anything. Don't ask them to do one thing at a time because they will do 10 things at the same time. The education of our enlisted force probably equates to or is better than the officer corp was when I came in 1954. What have you thought of the legendary heroes you have known personally? The hero of the United States Air Force is that staff sergeant, that senior airman, that technical sergeant out there on the flight line or in a supply warehouse or here in PA that just slogs along everyday making sure that everything is done the way it is suppose to be done. What have you contributed to the Air Force? I'm not sure I have contributed anything to our Air Force, I don't even know why I joined the Air Force, and I am going to be very honest with you, I never made a conscience decision that the Air Force was going to be my career. I wouldn't even qualify to join the Air Force today, I guarantee the recruiter would summarily sent me down the hall to join the army. To be given the opportunity that the Air Force gave me has got to be the greatest thing that has ever happened in the history of mankind. Because it just doesn't happen to individuals, you have leadership that takes the time to work with people that weren't even qualified to be a part of the system and to be a part of that and to be able to absorb like a sponge. And have the right people that would take the time to do that, I am afraid we don't do that today," he said. We cast people out and throw them away and Parish could have been thrown away a lot of times when he was a young Airmen. Not that I was a bad Airman - I simply made lots of mistakes, but I was always doing things for the right reason and the mistakes were not criminal. The right reason never entails yourself. What do you think of Team Whiteman and the B-2? You're talking about things way above who I am and who I represent. The B-2 is a weapon system. The B-2 is the most modern weapon system that we have today for the mission that we have for it today. The B-2 with its pilot sitting in there is the true warrior of the Air Force, to fly, fight and win. That being true, all a pilot is sitting on the runway when an aircraft breaks is just a runway observer until maintainers come and fix the air plane. Then when they fixed the aircraft if they don't have any JP-8 he is still a runway observer until the fueling tech does the fueling. This deathly duo would be nothing with out the maintenance to take care of the jet, fuels to fuel the jet, loaders to load the jet with bombs so the pilot doesn't have to kamikaze the two billion dollar weapons system to destroy the target, intelligence to identify that target, aerial re-fuelers to get the jet to the target, weather forecasts so they can refuel the jet since it can't be done in a thunderstorm, and many others that make the mission possible. Everything that went on with that great weapon system so it could accomplish its mission was done by men and women who wear chevrons. The weapons system is a great thing, but we have a tendency to put that weapons system above everything and that weapon system is only as good as the people who maintain it, support it and the pilot who delivers it. Because the ultimate weapon we have in the United States Air Force is the Pilot, but he isn't much good without the team. I'm not down playing importance of the B-2. Don't ever think I am because I talk about it all over the world. This is what we are all about. It is an aircraft, but it is the most glorified and the most modern aircraft that we have ever had in the history of the United States Air Force. If you could change something about your Air Force experience what would it be? Nothing. What makes Airmen tick? Most of our people would probably do what they do for nothing if someone would take care of their families and their obligations that they have to those families. This is obvious because you can't tell me how much cash you make in a year. I'll go to Airmen Leadership School after a while and bet each one of them 10 dollars that they can't get within 500 dollars of how much cash they make in a year. If you were outside that gate and working for a company you could tell me to the penny how much you were paid, but we don't pay attention to that as long as we can fulfill our obligations. So why do we do it? We generally do it because we like the people we're working with, we like the jobs we are doing and then if you stop and think about the real reason we are doing it is for our country. Did you know? Chief Parish was born in Marianna, Fla., and attended Malone (Fla.) High School. He joined the U.S. Air Force in December 1954, and graduated with the first class from the Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy at Gunter Air Force Station, Ala., in 1973 Following basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, he was assigned to Chanute Air Force Base, Ill., for training as a ground weather equipment operator. After completing the course as an honor graduate in August 1955, Chief Parish was assigned to the 18th Weather Squadron, Wiesbaden Air Base, West Germany, as noncommissioned officer in charge of weather communications. He became the 8th Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Aug 1, 1983.