JoAnne Bass

I blacked out, called the family, obviously, and was so excited and also humbled at the thought of being able to lead our Air Force, 689,000 total force airmen that make up America's Air Force.

And I tell people all the time,

I'm not just the chief to the enlisted force, but I was chief to our officers, our civilians, the aspects of war fighting matters to me, but also their care and well-being and that of their families and setting the conditions so those total force airmen could continue to ensure the safety and security of our nation.

So it came down.

But when people say, hey, chief, you know, what does it feel like to be the chief master in the Air Force?

I say the same.

Right.

Like it's just, you know, you have more responsibility.

But but I've learned the keys to success.

And and those are to surround yourself by people who are smarter and more talented than you.

And when you know how to bring the secret sauce together and those are just teams of people that are impeccable.

empowered to get after it then you just get out the way yeah every leader has a role and so again if we're not threatened by the role that people play and the skills and the talents that they bring and we just let them we we provide vision and direction but we let them handle it and

I tell people all the time, again, it was truly the team that I had surrounding me, but it was the men and women who serve in our Air Force who continue to make our Air Force strong.

Yeah.

I think a lot of preparation, right?

And a lot, certainly a sacrifice of time.

And so, you know, I had years of experience to really start to understand how to manage time, how to provide margin in my life.

Yeah.

How to prioritize the things that are important and also how to, again, push down and empower other people to do that.

But, you know, one of the things that my family and I talked about, especially as we were entering into the position, I'll never forget.