In her own words: 49th Wing Command Chief Master Sgt. Gay Veale

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Warren Spearman
  • 49th Wing Public Affairs
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  Chief Master Sgt. Gay Veale, the new 49th Wing command chief, loves her job. The part of her job she loves the most is helping to take care of the Air Force's most valuable resource: It's airmen. I recently sat down with Chief Veale to discuss what she expects from Holloman and what Holloman can expect from her. Chief Veale is coming from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, where she spent 18 months as a command chief for the 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing.

1. What are your expectations from Holloman and its enlisted personnel?

"I have very simple expectations. I am a meet or exceed the standards kind of person. No rocket science there. I need our airmen to take care of themselves, take care of their mission, take care of their fellow airmen, take care of their families and take care of their communities. If we're doing those things, we're going to be in great shape. I expect our airmen to embrace and epitomize our Air Force Core Values: Integrity First, Service Before Self, Excellence In All We Do. Those are very important, and if we're living by those core values, again, we're going to be in great shape. Finally, I really want our airmen to be the gold standard for Air Combat Command. When our leadership, is thinking about who their top performers are across the command, I want them to think Holloman at every turn. And that takes effort from the whole team; and the enlisted airmen are a huge part of that."

2. In turn, what should Holloman's enlisted personnel expect from you?

"I think they can expect someone who is very interested in their well-being. They can expect honest, frank feedback. They can expect transparency. I'm going to share information to the max extent possible so that our airmen are aware of what's going on around them in our Air Force. They can expect a very down to earth, and what I feel, approachable airman, a fellow airman."

3. What goals have you set for yourself while you're here at Holloman?

"My goal is to ensure the wing's enlisted force is able to meet the 49th Wing mission. To get this done, we need to be properly trained, professionally developed and deployment ready. "

4. What excites you most about being here at Holloman?

"What excites me most is the opportunity to continue to serve our airmen. I feel so honored and so blessed to just have the privilege to continue to serve in this capacity and to continue to serve airmen every day. That's the coolest thing in the world to me, so I've got the dream job, and I get to continue to do it. Holloman brought me here to do that, and I can't wait. "

"The message I have for our airmen is to focus on the things they can control. Things like their job performance, their fitness, their family life, and their communities. And just trust that their wing's leadership, and Air Force leadership, is going to take care of the big rocks. Taking into account the best interest of our Airmen, while doing what's right for our ultimate mission, the defense of our nation."