2023 Ohio Air National Guard Chief’s Huddle

  • Published
  • By Story by Master Sgt. Joe Harwood
  • Ohio Air National Guard

CAMP PERRY, Ohio- Command Chief Master Sgt. Troy R. Taylor, State Command Chief, Ohio Air National Guard, hosted the ‘Chief’s Huddle’ Aug. 29-31, 2023, at the Camp Perry Conference Center, Port Clinton, Ohio. The annual event invites all Chief Master Sergeants from across the state to network, share ideas, tackle issues, and improve processes to better serve the enlisted force across the state.

As the State Command Chief, Taylor said he hosts this event to improve the overall readiness of the entire enlisted force.

“We bring all the Chief’s together to strategically engage, make the connections and understand what we’re all doing on the left and the right. That synergy of effort from all our Chiefs helps us fight our way forward. We must ask ourselves ‘How do we move all 5000 of our airmen closer to the fight to help them accomplish our missions?’ Taylor added, "Realistically, this enables us to be ready to fight tonight!”

Taylor said the Chief’s Huddle serves several purposes, but one of the most important in his opinion is to successfully execute the goals of our Ohio National Guard senior leadership.

“At the annual Joint Senior Leadership Conference, we talk about the priorities and plans moving forward,” Taylor said, “This is about seven months after that, so the Chief’s Huddle serves as a good check-in point to see where we’re at on executing those priorities.”

Taylor said it’s also important to him that they take the time to recognize their people.

“The recognition dinner is also a big part of what we do.” Taylor said, “It’s a tradition in the United States Air Force to give a hail and farewell to our retiring Chief’s and welcome those who have recently joined our ranks, the fact that we have all of them together from around our state is powerful and to my knowledge we’re one of the few states that bring them all together like this.”

Chief Master Sgt. Joe Enderle, Senior Enlisted Leader, 200th RED HORSE, having served 38 years in the unit and five years as a Chief, was one of those honored at this year’s event.

“I know they’ve held Chief Huddles in the past, but they had stopped doing them for a while and we brought them back in 2021 and I’m pleased we have started doing them again, this connects us.” Enderle said, “This is what it’s all about, the people that are in your unit. Know the people around you that can help get things done, from the leadership around the state to every Airman in your unit. You must know the Airmen, especially the junior enlisted, understand what they are all about and be aware of their needs.”

The Chief’s held an Airman’s panel as part of the event, inviting a group of junior enlisted to share their thoughts and concerns in an open discussion with their leadership.

Chief Master Sgt. Alisha Moore, a recently promoted Chief and one of the youngest attending this year’s event, gave her advice to the junior enlisted who might aspire to become a Chief someday.

“Continue to develop yourself, so that you can continue to develop others around you to become the future leaders of the Ohio Air National Guard. Complete your professional military education, continuously work to improve as a subject matter expert.” Moore said, “Also, to be an effective leader, it’s important to create a positive culture. Stay involved and care about others around you. The culture we create is everything.”