Gen Welsh - USAF Chief of Staff

[busdriver]

I read on the AF rag (online, I rarely pay for that crap) that Gen Welsh is taking over USAFE. I remember he was the first commandant of cadets in a long time (since Olds?) that we all liked and truly respected. That's a huge deal for a bunch of cynical and bitter college age kids at the Zoo.

I remember his speech. Usually speakers were ignored or worse by a bunch of disrespectful jack asses, this time everyone left the auditorium in dead silence.

In any event, congrats USAFE I think you have a great new commander.

Link below to the transcript:

Gen Welsh's speech

[KennyB]

I still remember sitting through that speech. Every single person in the audience was 100% tuned in to every word that came from his mouth. Then BG Welsh was the definition of a charismatic leader; I doubt much has changed. Good for USAFE.

[Toro]

Wow. I remember reading this speech ten years ago and still have a copy of it.

It's a long read, but absolutely fantastic.

kenb (or anybody else who may have been there), where was the speech given and do you remember his rank? My version said it was change of command speech for Commandant of Cadets at USAFA, that the date was 26 Aug 99, and that he was a Brig Gen.

But according to his biography, he didn't pin on BG until 1 Aug 00 and he was Commandant from Jun 99 to Sep 01.

[Muscle2002]

Wow. I remember reading this speech ten years ago and still have a copy of it.

It's a long read, but absolutely fantastic.

kenb (or anybody else who may have been there), where was the speech given and do you remember his rank? My version said it was change of command speech for Commandant of Cadets at USAFA, that the date was 26 Aug 99, and that he was a Brig Gen.

But according to his biography, he didn't pin on BG until 1 Aug 00 and he was Commandant from Jun 99 to Sep 01.

Your date is accurate. He was frocked. The speech wasn't a change of command speech, but an Arnold Hall lecture.

[ClearedHot]

The single best warrior, officer, person I have ever worked for.

[stract]

I've still got a copy of the video of that speech, including the Q&A session at the end where he zipped down his flight suit.

[Muscle2002]

The single best warrior, officer, person I have ever worked for.

He's one who walks the walk. As a cadet, I had to brief him and his staff (sts) about a summer program...later in the summer, he not only remembered me, but asked me about family (by name) and specific questions about school-related events that were not just available in some cadet database. It was obvious that he took time to get to know things about people he worked with.

At the end of the program, he took the time to track down the cadet commander and me to give us a CC's RMO while we tore down the BCT camp and personally thank us for our work.

It's a shame he didn't make 4-star earlier.

[DFRESH]

I read on the AF rag (online, I rarely pay for that crap) that Gen Welsh is taking over USAFE. I remember he was the first commandant of cadets in a long time (since Olds?) that we all liked and truly respected. That's a huge deal for a bunch of cynical and bitter college age kids at the Zoo.

I remember his speech. Usually speakers were ignored or worse by a bunch of disrespectful jack asses, this time everyone left the auditorium in dead silence.

In any event, congrats USAFE I think you have a great new commander.

Link below to the transcript:

Gen Welsh's speech

What an amazing read. Sometimes being on this site too much makes my head spin with "Did I make the right decision" questions, but this speech hits home and I remember why I'm here. (158 days)

[contraildash]

Any chance he has a son that went to Texas A&M back while he was up at the USAFA? Trying to connect some names in my fuzzy memory....

[stract]

I'm pretty sure he did. Also a son at USAFA while he was the Comm.

p.s. unlike Ohio State, "the" does not precede USAFA... ;)

Edited December 7, 2010 by stract

[MKopack]

Had never read the full text of the speech before - would have liked to have heard it in person.

I was one of the guys waiting on the flightline for the F-16 and pilot hit by the SAM over Baghdad to return - along with a second from that flight. Was a long day, almost can't believe it's been 20 years...

[BigFreddie]

He is a class act. I was there for his DESERT STORM speech at Arnold Hall in '99 or '00. He also gave an excellent LT 101 speech that was about attention to detail - the stories were about his baseball, USAFA, UPT buddies who died in airplane crashes because their lack of attention to detail. The last story was about his former roommate and godfather to his son who died in an OV-10 crash in Korea. At the end, he grabbed his glass of water off the podium and said, "I promised to toast his memory every year with people who he would respect and serve with" and with that he slugged down the rest of his water, threw the glass against the wall and walked out. I've never heard 900 cadets as quiet as that in my four years there. I think we sat there for 10 minutes in absolute silence.

His son was in my squadron his freshman year - it was fun to see all the freshmen sign out on a Friday night as a big group - "where the hell are you all going?" They'd answer, "the comm's house!" and off they'd go. Who was I to stop them?

[busdriver]

He also gave an excellent LT 101 speech that was about attention to detail.

I think it was called "Don't sweat the small stuff." The story that still stands in my mind is the guy who died egressing an aircraft because he said the wrong thing and the back-seater ejected on the ground while his buddy was unstrapping and hopping out.

I think we sat there for 10 minutes in absolute silence.

Yep, I remember that as well

[Chapter29]

Then Col Welsh was my OG at Moody in the mid '90s. Being a Herk guy at a composite wing, for my first year and a half there--he was just another one of "those guys". The usual stuff, OG CC calls and the like, but dont think I had ever met him.

After the Cessna shoot down off Cuba early in 96, and our subsequent wing involvement, I was plucked out of the squadron one afternoon to accompany our OG/CC to Langley to discuss some "misconnects" with the C-130 DOOM guys. After a cobbled together ejection seat training session (15 min), I was escorted to the flight line and, for the first time, met Col Welsh. We chatted for about 10 min, jumped into his jet, and started two of the coolest days (in my 21 years) of wearing a bag.

You might think that for a Herk guy, the coolest thing about this trip was the flight up and flight back in the F-16. It was not. And it was not the time with him in these meetings where I saw him basically dismantle 2 O-5s and crush an O-5 (it was pretty cool tho--I was a captain at the time)

It was the time I spent drinking beer with him at the club that evening. Great guy, great stories. It was basically two AF pilots drinking some beers talking about life on the otherside of our respective fences.

For the flight home, after switching to departure and leveling at 3,000 feet, departure says something to the effect... "Moody three, cleared unrestricted climb to FL310, please expedite through 12,000 ft" I remember hearing him laugh and then telling me "I hate it when they do that". I dont think I passed out, but I wouldnt bet a beer on it...

Congrats to Gen Welsh. You are the man.

[Bergman]

Change of command article...best part, IMHO, I put in bold. Hope he is true to his word.

12/13/2010 - RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (AFNS) -- U.S. Air Forces in Europe Airmen welcomed a new commander with the arrival of Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, who assumed command during a ceremony here Dec. 13.

"This command is in great shape," General Welsh said. "My goal is just to make things even better than they have been in the past."

General Welsh comes to USAFE from Washington D.C., where he served as associate director for military affairs at the Central Intelligence Agency. He has held a variety of command and staff jobs during his 34-year career, including commander of the 8th Fighter Wing at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, and vice commander of Air Education and Training Command at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas.

The general said his priorities fall into two areas: people and mission.

"We have to take care of the Airmen who we are privileged to lead in this command," he said. "I know that supervisors, commanders and command chiefs in USAFE have been doing this, and I just want to make sure we stay focused on it."

Anything that affects Airmen or their families is worth paying attention to, he said, whether it's adjusting to a new cultural dynamic or living in a new community.

"Those are the kinds of things that affect people's behavior and performance at work, so we have to make sure that our Airmen and their families are as comfortable as we can make them in that regard," General Welsh said. "If they feel well cared for, our Airmen perform better. It's really that simple."

The general's first priority goes hand-in-hand with his "other first priority": accomplishing the mission.

"We need to make sure that we never lose sight of the fact that the only thing we will be graded on by the people who task us, and the public that they represent, is how well we do the job," he said. "So, taking care of people is the cornerstone of good leadership. Good leadership creates pride. Those people and that pride create performance, and, for us, performance is the bottom line."

In addition to commanding USAFE, General Welsh will serve as commander of the Allied Air Command at Ramstein and as director of the multinational Joint Air Power Competence Centre at Kalkar, Germany.

"This is my first NATO assignment, and I'm really excited to be part of the alliance," he said.

This is General Welsh's third assignment in Europe. From 1981 to 1984 he was stationed at Royal Air Force Woodbridge, England, as an A-10 Thunderbolt II instructor pilot, and again from 2001 to 2003 as director of plans and programs at USAFE headquarters.

"I love everything about being stationed in Europe," said General Welsh, who is accompanied on this assignment by his wife, Betty, and their dog, Rillo. "I love the partner nations and the cultures. I love learning about a history that dates well beyond our own. Europe is a beautiful and historic place, so it's exciting to be here."

General Welsh said he is looking forward to meeting the Airmen of USAFE as he travels around the theater in the coming weeks and months.

"I came into the Air Force because I was in love with the airplanes," General Welsh said. "I stayed in because I fell in love with the people. And I'd like them to know that I believe that leadership is a gift. It's given by those who follow. But you have to be worthy of it. And my job is to prove I am."

General Welsh assumed command from Gen. Roger A. Brady who retired during a ceremony following the change of command.

[Breckey]

His USAFA speech is now on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/user/Pecker5454#p/u/0/Ud32agKHcyQ

[BigFreddie]

New Gen Welsh video on YouTube...

https://www.youtube.c...bed/hFBpxB5zgnY

Can we vote for who the next CSAF is???

Edited November 6, 2011 by BigFreddie

[TrainerModel]

New Gen Welsh video on YouTube...

https://www.youtube.c...bed/hFBpxB5zgnY

Can we vote for who the next CSAF is???

Great speech, can't believe i just watched the whole thing but it keeps you hooked.

[Napoleon_Tanerite]

"Combat allaboutme" managed to fire a lot of good folks and got buy in by a subsequent crop of d-bagers.

"He who shall not be named" managed to reshape things in his skeletor-like image as well.

They managed to use their 4-stars. Unfortunately, they used them for self-aggrandizing evil, but they used 'em. So if a four-star wants to change things within his purview, he can do it.

A matter of choice.

edited to snag the right post to quote.

It seems that it's always easier to make things MORE queepy, MORE painful and MORE stupid. You always have the blanket statement of "I am allowed to make things more 'restrictive'" Once a policy is dug in well enough, you have enough idiots sold on its "purpose" that changing it is nearly impossible. It's very hard to roll back queep, because the immediate response is "you're making something LESS restrictive!" You have to push back against an entire cadre of idiots who bought off that the queep made people safer/better trained/more informed, even if all the queep did was make them miserable.

It really is a strange paradox. When some jackass proposes queep, he seems to be surrounded by a bunch of spineless yes-men, but when someone wants to roll back that same queep those yes-men suddenly grow a pair and dig in to protect their precious stupidity.

[WABoom]

I posted the video of General Welsh's presentation at the USAFA yesterday on FB. Not too often do I feel that inspired to do/be better, but the Gen was able to do that for me. Quickest 50 minutes of my life. Now I just need orders tomorrow to USAFE.

[Toro]

I had the pleasure of meeting Gen Welsh several times when I was at USAFE and I can only hope that he ends up as the CSAF.

That was an outstanding speech. If you haven't watched the whole thing through, do so.

[WABoom]

Thanks Stract, that was really good too. I really liked the dog story! BTW, can't believe he pushed his flight suit sleeves up! After watching the 2 presentations, I really like how General Welsh meshes humor and patriotism to inspire. I have actually watched the latest video twice now. I sure hope he is the next CSAF. I think the USAF NEEDS someone like him right now. We NEED a strong leader that actually gets it.

Here's to you General Welsh!

Edited November 10, 2011 by M2
Better not to put your name in your posts

[Guest]

Hopefully Welsh can move into the gap left by Schwartz after we shitcan him for the Dover mortuary fuckup.

[Champ Kind]

Welsh > Schwartz

Sorry AFSOC/Talon (and fellow Herk dudes that rejoiced when he was announced).... We got a shoe clerk when he was made CSAF. The consummate "yes man" that Gates felt was needed at the time. "Fix nukes." "Yes, sir." "More UAV orbits." "Yes, sir." "Save money, you are overmanned on paper." "Yes, sir."

Change will be good. Let's hope Gen Welsh doesn't have an inner shoe clerk just waiting to trash the AF more than it already is.

[Rusty Pipes]

Change can't come from one guy, even if he is CSAF! It has to be a complete mindset change which would have to be embraced by an entire generation of careerists sitting below him. Does anyone really think that will happen? A CSAF can make waves and try to stick to his guns, but that is usually not the best career choice (Moseley/Fogleman). Even the CSAF only gets one, "But, Sir..." when he doesn't agree with something that is being pushed from above. They will pick their battles knowing that there are a dozen other guys waiting in the wings who are ready to say, "Yes, Sir" if they don't.

I've met Gen Welsh a few times and listened to this USAFA speech... he is definitely one of the few at his level I have met that I've seen as a genuine leader. We definitely need more in the AF management system who think like him. I would love to see him as CSAF. If that happens I think his aide or Chief of Staff need to have him sit down about 6 months later and listen to his own USAFA speech again! He is definitely one of the good guys!

Edited November 9, 2011 by Rusty Pipes