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."