KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. -- One percent. One percent is the number of Airmen able to wear the rank of chief master sergeant in the Air Force at any given time.
As of Dec. 19, 2018, I will have been in the Air Force for a whole one year. That is a drop in a bucket for the senior master sergeants I had the privilege of photographing the moment they found out they had made chief. My 24 years of life seemed to be dwarfed by some of these great individuals who have been in the Air Force almost as long as I have been alive.
So congrats to the following:
Chief Master Sgt. Anthony Anderson, Air Force Safety Center’s Weapons Safety Division superintendent
Chief Master Sgt. Michael Rubio, 351st Battle Field Airmen Training Squadron commandant
Chief Master Sgt. William Weir, 377th Maintenance Squadron superintendent
When I saw these chiefs, I saw individuals who had made it, yet were not satisfied because they still have a lot left in the tank. These chiefs will tell anyone and everyone that they did not make it this far in their career by themselves. There are spouses, friends, family and co-workers and many others that have supported these chiefs behind the scenes.
I felt like the new chiefs did not know how to feel once told that they had made rank. A combination of joy, accomplishment and shock was made apparent on their faces. No matter what emotion they were feeling, smiles dominated the room both by the newly selected chiefs and by those that were there to welcome them to the rank of chief master sergeant.
Members of the Kirtland Chief’s Group welcomed Anderson, Rubio and Weir as new members to the group. The comradery was very apparent between members of the chief’s group and the new chiefs. They were already family, even though Anderson, Rubio and Weir were brand new to Kirtland Chief’s group. There was this feeling that everyone knew the caliber of these individuals because they were chosen to be part of the one percent, and that merited a tremendous amount of respect.
So again, congratulations to Kirtland’s newest chiefs. Continue to Aim High.