CMSAF Cody visits with Airmen of 'America's Fortress'

by Airman 1st Class Rose Gudex
21st Space Wing Public Affairs

8/11/2015 - CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN AIR FORCE STATION -- Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James A. Cody toured Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station on Aug. 6.

During his visit, the Air Force's senior enlisted leader met the Airmen accomplishing the mission at "America's Fortress" and held an all call to discuss the changes taking place in the Air Force.

"It's interesting to get inside the mountain and see what it's all about, but the real point of this visit is to spend time with our Airmen," Cody said.

Throughout the day, he met with junior and senior Airmen and asked how they liked working at the installation and living in the local area. He also answered questions and spoke more in depth about the changes to the enlisted evaluation and promotion system, feedback, professional development, and how each affect the fighting force.

With the changes to the evaluation and promotion systems, he said the Air Force is on track and, even with a few challenges along the way, anticipates the rest of the changes to fall into place.

"It takes time to make this type of change," Cody said. "What we're doing is not insignificant - it's the most significant thing we've done since the inception of the Weighted Airman Promotion System - so you can appreciate that's going to take some time."

When asked about the master sergeant promotion board process and the recent promotion results, Cody said he has received great feedback and that there will continue to be analysis to see how the process affected the promotions.

"We're very confident the master sergeant board gave us the right people to promote at the right time," Cody said. "We've always been promoting the right people over time, we just haven't been getting that order right. We believe this process helps us do that."
As the changes are implemented, Cody said his priority will continue to be Airmen and their families.

"We will continue to focus on the deliberate development of our force," he said. "It's also extremely important that we continue to work on the resiliency of our Air Force, specifically the work, life balance and making sure we have that right."

Fort Carson, Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station test joint response during exercise

by Senior Airman Tiffany DeNault
21st Space Wing Public Affairs

7/21/2015 - CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN AIR FORCE STATION, Colo. -- Soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, respond to an exercise at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station with Strykers and Humvees July 15.

Existing support agreements ensure support between 21st Space Wing assets and Fort Carson during real world situations. The blocking force exercise tested the ability of Fort Carson and CMAFS to execute a joint mission, manage resources, stewardship of manpower and equipment readiness.

Owned and operated by the 21st SW on Peterson Air Force Base, CMAFS is designated as the Alternate Command Center, the primary being at North American Aerospace Defense Command, U.S. Northern Command also located on Peterson AFB.

"The exercise demonstrates our joint commitment to protect the strategic missions of national significance in continuous operations at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station," said Col. Gary Cornn, 721st Mission Support Group and installation commander. "This is an important exercise showing the capability of Fort Carson's response if there is an increased threat."

The 4th ID, 1SBCT responded to provide a physical blocking force on key avenues of approach to CMAFS. In the event of a real world situation, the vehicles and personnel from Fort Carson would also be used for extra firepower, medical support, engineering and logistical support.

Strykers are eight-wheeled combat vehicles that are road legal and able to deploy immediately on and off road. The vehicles are capable of executing an array of missions and scenarios; more so than any other vehicle in the Department of Defense, said Maj. Kevin Boyd, 4th ID, 1SBCT public affairs officer. The Strykers give the 4th ID unique capabilities other Fort Carson units do not have.

"Working together in this joint security exercise was valuable for us as we worked the 759th Military Police Battalion from Fort Carson to open a closed gate to facilitate our movement up the mountain, and with the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station security forces to conduct link-up and support their security posture," said Boyd. "For our Soldiers it is important to know our neighbors and how we can conduct mutual aid for them to understand exactly what is needed and where to respond in a time of crisis cuts down our response time and enables us to bring the proper equipment."