CSAF pays a visit to the 171st ARW Published April 29, 2010 By Staff Sgt. Ivyann Castillo 171st Public Affairs April 2010 -- Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James A. Roy made a guest appearance at the 171st Air Refueling Wing here March 7. Roy made a special acknowledgement to the 171st ARW deployed members all over the world after thanking and congratulating Airmen recognized at a monthly recognition ceremony. In addition, he gave credit to the Airmen who continue to maintain and operate the wing's aging refueling aircraft. Also recognizing the uniqueness of the Guard with balancing a family, military career and civilian employment, Roy thanked the family members who support Airmen. "I don't know how you do it," Roy said. "I only serve in two capacities: my family and being in the active duty Air Force. All of you have an extra component, and that's with your civilian employment." Roy's first order fo business being in his position as the Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force is to ensure Airmen are ready for the mission. "We need to be prepared, whether it's, training, having the right equipment or being in good physical condition, we always have to be ready." Aside from the individual and the squadrons being "mission ready" he addressed the importance in working in a joint military environment. "We need to know how to train and to work jointly with our allied and coalition forces, working as a team," Roy said. Roy's vision for the future with the enlisted core is broken into three tiers: experience, educaiton and training. "Experience comes from the missions we do everyday, the types of experience derived fro those missions and what we accomplish," he said. "For education we have to make sure Airmen are getting their Professional MIlitary Education accomplished as well as accommodate our Airmen to attend any formal schools they are eligible for. Lastly we again need to add joint coalition training not only with our sister units but our allied units too; we are all in this together."