Chief master sergeants converge for forum Published March 16, 2010 By Senior Airman Tong Duong 17th Training Wing Public Affairs GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- More than 15 active duty and retired chief master sergeants met at the Norma Brown building's conference room to discuss current issues affecting the base and retirees in the San Angelo, Texas community. Modeling the meet after the Eagle's Luncheon, a group of active duty and retired 0-6 colonels who meet quarterly to discuss current events related to Goodfellow, Chief Master Sgt. Frederick Ricker, 17th Training Wing command chief, took it upon himself to revive the "Gathering of Chiefs". "I took it as an initiative to capitalize on what they are doing in the area," said Chief Ricker. "It's very important that while we are on active duty, we continue to reach out to the retired community to let them know they are still a part of the big Air Force family." To Chief Ricker, retired 0-6's or "eagles" and chiefs are the key to the future of any base and community. "They are really the ones who laid the foundation for what we are building now in the Air Force and specifically at Goodfellow," the chief of seven years said. "As past leaders of our Air Force, it's important they see how the foundation they set has grown. They provide a wealth of knowledge to us as members of the community who have served in our Air Force past." To give a solid foundation of what is going on at Goodfellow today, Master Sgt. Lawrence Godin, from the 315th Training Squadron, gave a wing mission brief, covering how each unit and squadron impacts the overall mission of training here. Col. David Rearick, 17 TRW vice commander, also dropped in briefly to welcome the chiefs as well as give the State of Goodfellow brief, covering military construction, future of training, housing issues and the opening of the newest housing community, the Landing's at Goodfellow. The event invited an estimated 30 retired chiefs in the local area and 13 active duty chiefs in the wing "We try to reach out to them. They have a lot of corporate knowledge and know a lot of people in the local community," he said. Due to the relative small number of active and retired chiefs in the local area, there is no formal organized chiefs group, but there are plans to meet once a quarter. "It's a great thing to do, especially in such a small community like San Angelo. One of the chiefs retired in 1972," Chief Ricker said. "He loved seeing the young Airmen around base, because that inspires and motivates him to this day. To bring those chiefs back into the fold is very important to what we do now but also because they are the heritage of our Air Force."
