An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Chief Asks: ‘Who Knows You?’

  • Published
  • By TSgt. Dan Heaton
  • 127th Wing Public Affairs
Who knows what you do?

That's the question Chief Master Sgt. Christopher Muncy wants Airmen to be asking themselves.

Muncy is the command chief of the Air National Guard and as such is the senior enlisted member of a force of roughly 107,000 Citizen-Airmen. Key among his duties is sharing his view from the top and visiting with Airmen out in the field to hear what their message is for the ANG's senior leaders.
And his view is that Airmen don't do a good enough job telling their story.

"What's the first question you get when you stop at a gas station to fill the tank on the way home from drill?" Muncy asked a town hall gathering of Airmen at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mich., during a May 19 visit with the 127th Wing of the Michigan ANG.

"It normally is... 'So, are you in the Army?' and then after you explain you are in the Air Force, the next question is?" he asked. To which most of the assembled audience replied "What do you fly?"

Which made Muncy's point: too few people know what the Air National Guard is or what it does.

"I don't think you know who doesn't know you," he said.

An Ohio native who briefly lived in Michigan as a boy, Muncy is the former command chief for the Ohio Air National Guard. During his visit to Michigan, he commented that the entire U.S. Air National Guard - about 107,000 or so Airmen -- would fit inside the football stadium at the University of Michigan.

"And when you go to a game at the Big House, if you look outside the stadium, there are plenty of people who aren't at the game, people going about their busy lives," Muncy said. "That's how it is with the Air Guard and why it is so important that we tell our story.

"Even the active duty Air Force does not fully understand our story," he said.

Given the current federal budget climate, Muncy said it is imperative that Air Guardsmen are telling their story.

"The people assume you have all you need, in manpower, aircraft and equipment," Muncy said. "And I've never met anyone who thinks that they have enough Airmen in their shop. It is up to you to tell that story."