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Jet48NewsAround the Air ForceChief Murray reflects on 29-year careerBy Carl Burgquist42nd Air Base Wing Public AffairsMAXWELL-GUNTER AIR FORCEBASE, Ala. - After 29 years of service, ChiefMaster Sergeant of the Air Force Gerald R.Murray said that his Air Force career has beenrewarding, exciting and gone farther than hecould have imagined.“For a guy who joined the service becausehe needed a job to end up Chief MasterSergeant of the Air Force was far more than Iever expected,” said Chief Murray, whoseretirement ceremony is in June. “What I’mmost proud of in my career was having theprivilege and opportunity to lead and representthe more than 440,000 enlisted members ofthe service.”After two years in college, he entered theAir Force in 1977 and has seen great changein the service. He said the enlisted force oftoday is “truly a better force” than it was then,and he attributes much of the change to effortsof those who came before him.“To paraphrase President Truman, ‘Weserve on the shoulders of giants,’ and that iswhy today’s Airmen are more efficient, bettereducated and the most qualified in the historyof the Air Force,” Chief Murray said.Before becoming chief master sergeant ofthe Air Force, Chief Murray said there weretwo great events in his life. The first was marryinghis wife, Sherry, “Or should I say herdecision to marry me, a college dropout,” andthe second was joining the Air Force becausethe economy was bad and he needed work.“(My wife) has been a great inspiration for methroughout my career,” Chief Murray said.“But, she can be as tough as a (military traininginstructor).”He said that only four other members of hisfamily chose the military as a career but hisfamily accepted his decision.“Other family members, specifically fouruncles and three great uncles, had served duringwar time, going all the way back to WorldWar I, so my family is patriotic and consideredmy choice as honorable,” the chief said.Once in the Air Force, Chief Murray said hewanted to be in a front-line position andrequested a fighter maintenance job. The AirForce gave him what he wanted and he workedwith “three great fighter aircraft” — the F-4Phantom, F-16 Fighting Falcon and A-10Thunderbolt II. He had 11 maintenanceassignments during that segment of his career.At the height of the Cold War, Chief Murrayserved at a Victor Alert Pad in Turkey, thentransitioned from that job to the A-10 aircraft.The transition led to his assignment to DesertShield/Desert Storm.“Desert Storm was a monumental (time) inPAGE 12 JET 48 MAGAZINEmy career because the Air Force gave me theopportunity to use my skills at a forward operatingbase,” he said. “The assignment also ledto a Bronze Star, an Air Force General LewAllen Trophy and my promotion to chief mastersergeant.”Chief Murray said he had set a goal forhimself as a staff sergeant that if he stayed inthe Air Force, he was going to make chief.Once he made chief, his next goal was to besuperintendent of a fighter group and he alsofulfilled that goal. He said he never wanted tobe a command chief, or senior enlisted advisoras they were called at the time, and neverentertained the idea of being chief master sergeantof the Air Force.“Becoming a chief was a highlight of mycareer but I had a lot to learn,” he said. “I hadbecome ‘stove-piped’ in maintenance and nowfound myself having to deal with all aspects ofthe Air Force.”Chief Murray handled it well. He movedfrom the wing level to numbered Air Force tocommand chief of the Pacific Air Forcesbefore being selected as the 14th chief mastersergeant of the Air Force in 2002.“Once selected, I stepped forward to do thebest job I could, to deal with challenges thatcame along and deal with what I didn’t knowabout the job,” he said. “One thing I didn’tknow was that Gen. John P. Jumper, then chiefof staff of the Air Force, was going to makemy first priority his new ‘Fit to Fight’ fitnessprogram and that was going to be a real challenge.”Chief Master Sgt. of the Air ForceGerald R. Murray stands in front of theSenior NCO Academy’s Kisling Hall atMaxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, Ala.Chief Murray said he has always tried touse every available tool, such as focusing ondeveloping Airmen capability, career jobretraining and balancing the force, and hehopes that has led to an improved enlistedforce.“I took it upon myself that part of (my) jobwas to reshape the force,” he said. “When Iarrived four years ago, I told the College ofEnlisted Professional Military Education, ‘Ican’t tell you how to do your job, but warriorethos must be emphasized in PME.’ I’mpleased to see that Lt. Gen. Stephen Lorenz,Air University commander, has included thatmessage in his mission briefs.”Chief Murray said his career, “as with allthings, has had highs and lows.” There havebeen challenges and sacrifices, and he saidhis wife and three children have sacrificed themost.As for what’s next in his life, Chief Murraysaid he really doesn’t have any hard plans forthe future. He’s looking at several opportunities,to include continuing his education orpossibly government service as a civilian. Healso plans to build a house “with (his) owntwo hands” and hike the entire AppalachianTrail.“One has to balance one’s life and every lifehas seasons. The past four years have been aseason of being away from home a lot and Iowe my family a season of being aroundthem,” he said. “One thing is for sure, though.Someday, I will retire to that home I built inthe hills of North Carolina.”Photo by Carl BurgquistMAY 12, 2006