Bold, innovative Airmen meet 18th Air Force commander

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Danielle Conde
  • 6th Air Mobility Wing public affairs
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Two of the key traits Lt. Gen. Carlton D. Everhart II, 18th Air Force commander, encourages his Airmen to be are bold and innovative. Airmen at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, demonstrated this during his visit on April 29-30, 2015.

"The thing I have noticed about this base is a lot of star performers," said Everhart. "The Chief and I always like to get a good heart beat of how a base is doing, and this base is singing."

Everhart was accompanied by his aide-de-camp, Maj. Kevin Eley and right-hand man, Chief Master Sgt. Robert Rodewald, 18th Air Force command chief, during his visit with Team MacDill.

Throughout the tour, the team was introduced to 10 star performers who demonstrated outstanding work ethic. The general and chief also had the honor of presenting three Airmen with the Air Force Achievement Medal during an all-call.

"I ask our Airmen to do a lot of hard things, and they go out enthusiastically and get it done," said Everhart. "I don't worry about the mission at all."

However, one of the biggest challenges the general expressed was finding a way to standardize across the 18th Air Force.

In addition to meeting star performers, Everhart and Rodewald were shown initiatives that have been put into place at MacDill to help Airmen accomplish the mission more efficiently.

"I ask them to be bold and innovative," said Everhart, who went on to add that every time he turns around he sees new ways Airmen have revamped the inspection process to shorten the time it takes to accomplish the mission.

Toward the end of the visit Everhart said he wished they could have stayed longer because of what the Airmen do day in and day out.

"They are the rock and foundation of what we are seeing in our Air Force," expressed Everhart. "I want to thank them personally for helping us get our mission done every single day."