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305th command chief moves on, but won't forget

  • Published
  • By James L. Hodges
  • Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  The walls once displaying mementoes and memories in the office of the 305th Air Mobility Wing command chief are now bare. Holes have been patched and a fresh coat of paint has been applied.

After serving for 30 years in the Air Force, Chief Master Sgt. John Gillette, 305th AMW command chief, retired Thursday, but the memories are still present. Gillette started his career as a maintainer and quickly rose through the ranks with the mentality that he was in the Air Force for more than a location or a specific job; he was in to serve the needs of the Air Force.

When Gillette was tapped to be a command chief, it was a position one volunteered for. Although comfortable where he was, Gillette knew it was time for a change.

"If you're comfortable it's probably time to start looking around to make yourself uncomfortable and start challenging yourself," he said. "I just don't think you're giving back to the Air Force enough if you're comfortable. You need to look for those opportunities where you can stretch your leadership."

One of his biggest challenges as a leader was making people understand the most efficient way to do their job is to follow the Air Force Instructions.

"Most processes, systems or organizations are interlinked and if I choose not to do something by the instruction I disrupt something downstream," he said.

Gillette found these challenges at various bases across the U.S., but during some deployments he saw just how important the AFIs were.

"When one person or one unit decides they're going to do it any way they want to do it and another one decides the same thing, now I can't mesh two supposedly like units together," said Gillette. "They won't operate like one cohesive team."

Through continuous oversight and direction, Gillette watched his Airmen work together like as if on auto pilot.

"To step in and make these cultural changes and then watch all that happen and come together was a huge success," Gillette said humbly, "a huge challenge but also a success."
Gillette used his success with the B1 Bomber at Ellsworth Air Force Base as an example. "The B1 bomber did not have a good reputation," he said. "It was an airplane that has been on the chopping blocks a couple times and everyone talked about how much manpower it took to fly.

"What we did is told people what we needed. We told congress and command," said Gillette. "By reporting accurately what we needed, we started getting money, resources and parts. Our priority was to make sure the B1 was a viable asset for the nation," said Gillette. "To watch it go from something that was pushed aside to today where it has a constant presence in the desert is nice to see. It flies nonstop in the theater."

In 2009, when the joint base stood up, Gillette was shown a new set of challenges.

"I really didn't have a concept about how much staff we were going to lose. All of our legal, public affairs and protocol was sucked away into the air base wing, which is where it belonged," he said. "It was almost like standing up a new wing. I'm sure the 87th Air Base Wing had similar thoughts as they stood up their wing. It was a shared challenge at the time."

While the split of personnel was an initial difficulty, more was to come.

"Over the last 18 months since the joint base stood up, the real challenge has been communication. Chief Wofford [Command Chief Master Sergeant, 87th Air Base Wing] and I have really solved many issues just by our relationship. He calls me, I call him; we're not territorial. We work as a team to make joint base a success."

The chief's dedication to the entire team - not just the 305th - is evident in his attitude toward the Airmen of the 87th.

"To make the 87th Airmen realize how important they are to me and my mission has been a drive of mine over the last few months," said Gillette. "I want the Airmen in the 87th to know they are critical to the success of the 305th and that I appreciate all they do to make us successful."

Despite his various successes during his career, the chief has one main regret.

After receiving his associate' s degree in1991 and his bachelor's degree in 1995, Gillette thought since that was all the education he needed to succeed in the Air Force.

"Here I am, a command chief, so that was the right perspective at the time; but as I'm ready to close the door on this career I don't have my master's degree."

Gillette's advice to Airmen is to get an education early and don't stop learning.

"Do it while you're young and have fewer responsibilities. Keep going till you're content with the level of education you want and then go one step further," laughed Gillette, "because I was content until I looked back."

Gillette also shared some advice he recently gave at a commander' s call.

"Find a balance in your life. It's evident to me if I just look at our fitness failure rates," he said. "What it tells me is your life's out of balance. You're committing more to work and/or family than you are committing to yourself."

And what of those mementoes?

"They're all ready in Spokane," said Gillette. "I am not going to chase a job around the country. That's why we are going to Spokane, Washington; the kids are there and it will be nice to have family around. And then we'll see what comes, I'm not in a hurry to get a job but I know I will get bored if I don't go to work."