AF manpower, personnel chief discusses way ahead

  • Published
  • By Staff Reports
  • 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany --  Lt. Gen. Darrell D. Jones, U.S. Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower, Personnel and Services, paid a visit to Spangdahlem Air Base to present the 2012 Air Force Inn Keeper Award (small facility) to the Eifel Arms Inn.

Jones took the time to say thank you to all who made this award a reality.

"It is a great honor for me to present this award," he said to members of the 52nd Force Support Squadron. "I wanted to take the opportunity to say thank you. This is not my first trip to Spangdahlem, but you can see the excitement and commitment is strong between the whole Saber team and our German friends."

During Jones' time on base, not only did he present the award, he spoke to an audience of more than 250 people about the road ahead for Airmen.

"The future is really coming together...It's going to be tough," he said. " "It's going to require some hard work by some great innovative Airmen in all career fields to make sure the future is secure and we come out the other end leaner and better at what we're doing."

His speech addressed force structure, fiscal challenges, military tuition assistance, retirement, and sexual misconduct and assault. He also took questions from the audience about physical fitness, promotion boards and Air Force services.

"I have to tell you that I did not join the Air Force that my father joined," he explained. "And my older son did not join the Air Force that I joined. Things are changing. Things are going to change.

If you've been in the Air Force as long as I've been in the Air Force, you know there are ups and downs. There are times when we have a little money and there's times when we're scraping nickels together. So we will make it through this time and we're going to come out the other end strong.

He also told Sabers what's important to the Air Force and what base services people use, everything from child care, youth programs, outdoor recreation, base libraries and the list continues.

"The perception is that all the good deals are going away and that all the bad deals are increasing," he said in reference to quality of life programs, "I would argue that is not the case."

Aside from the all-call, Jones had lunch with Airmen at the dining facility, toured the 726th Air Mobility Squadron's passenger terminal, stopped by the military personnel flight, Airman & Family Readiness Center and finally the new Exchange.

"Spangdahlem, you have one of the best assignments in the Air Force, but realize we understand the sacrifices you make serving overseas in a different country away from friends and family," he said. "So again, thank you for what you do for our Air Force."