Commander’s town hall meetings give airmen a direct voice

  • Published
  • By Senior Master Sgt. Preston Chasteen
  • 138th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
TULSA AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Okla. --  Col. David B. Burgy, 138th Fighter Wing commander and Chief Master Sgt. Thomas H. Payne, 138th Fighter Wing command chief, conducted town hall meetings here March 7-8, during the wings monthly unit training assembly (UTA).

The command staff visited select units on the installation, and plan on rotating visitations throughout all the organizations during future UTA's. 

Airman can talk about any concerns or needs that they might have, or even offer positive feedback.  The floor is open for anything they feel comfortable talking about.

"Hopefully if Chief Payne and I are doing our jobs they will feel comfortable talking with us," stated Burgy.  "We realize that some of the bigger units are of such a large size that people may not feel free to speak, so we're making an effort to offer smaller forums within the units to make it more comfortable for people to open up and express themselves."

Although the wing does have a public website and utilizes some social media applications, leadership is looking to foster more direct two way communication instead of just disseminating information over the internet.

"It's nice to be able to accompany with the wing commander to speak with these young airman   and NCO's one on one," stated Payne.   "We're able to give them the 40,000 foot view from our leadership position which helps them understand the big picture, but at the same time allows them to have a direct line of communication with us".

Currently wing leadership is not trying to communicate a particular message, but rather open up the lines of communication within the organization.

"I feel it's important for our airmen to see their leadership out in front of them and accessible," stated Burgy.  "We just want them to feel comfortable communicating with us."

Burgy and Payne have plans to not only hold meetings with every organization on base, but to continue the town halls for the duration of their command.