58 SOW command chief focused on success

  • Published
  • By Michael P. Kleiman
  • 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
KIRTLAND AFB N.M. --  As the son of a Detroit police officer, Chief Master Sgt. Gregory Smith learned early to strive for perfection, because the journey to achieve it transforms the individual and serves as a steppingstone to success.

Now, after reaching the Air Force's highest enlisted rank, he applies those lessons as the command chief for the 58th Special Operations Wing at Kirtland Air Force Base.

"I wake up every day and I cannot believe I get to do this," said Smith. "It is a sense of service and being part of something bigger than you. That's why I want to be here."

The future chief joined the Air Force as an armament section crew member in August 1990. During the next two and a half years, he loaded weapons on five different fighter aircraft. In February 1993, he transferred to Eielson AFB, Alaska, as an A-10 weapons load crew member and later became an AC-130U aerial gunner.

He moved to Hurlburt Field, Fla., where he deployed to Bosnia several times in support of Operations Joint Endeavor, Silver Wake and Joint Forge.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, he went to Oman to establish the Joint Special Operations Air Component in preparation for the invasion of Afghanistan. Later that same month, he ventured to Pakistan to work with interagency partners laying the foundation for Operation Enduring Freedom.

Six weeks later, the unexpected happened -- he was diagnosed with leukemia. Over the next three months, he received treatment at various military medical facilities.

By early 2002, he had beaten the ailment, but the Air Force had sought to medically retire him.

"Faith in God and faith in my family got me through this difficult time in my life," Smith said.

He returned to duty at Hurlburt while awaiting the service's decision on his future. By April 2002, he learned he could continue his military career, but was prohibited from flying beyond the local area. In 2004, he regained worldwide flying status. From 2005 to 2008, he completed seven deployments to Iraq, logging 1,400 combat hours.

A distinguished graduate of the Senior NCO Academy at Gunter AFB, Ala., he helped establish the Joint Special Operations Forces Senior Enlisted Academy at MacDill AFB, Fla. He also assisted in building the educational curriculum for the eight-month, 625-hour class.

Since arriving at Kirtland AFB early last month to assume his current position, the chief voiced his three priorities: mission, people and resources.

"For the first priority, my job is to ensure our enlisted force understands how they contribute to the mission of training mission-ready aircrews in a variety of special operations, personnel recovery, missile site support and distinguished visitor aircraft, and the actualization of the mission.

Regarding people, does the individual have the appropriate level of training, education, experience, supervision, support -- all those pieces have to work and synchronize to make the total Airman. For the resources piece, I have to ensure they have the equipment, training tools, time and space they need to properly perform their jobs."

Smith concluded by explaining his views on leadership.

"Leadership is not a chore -- it should never be approached as one. Leadership is an honor and it should be cherished as one. To have people come to you for advice, for mentorship, for guidance -- that is an awesome responsibility I hold in the highest regard," he said.