New State Command Chief for Delaware Air National Guard; change of authority ceremony Sunday April 15 at 2:30 pm Published Feb. 18, 2009 By 020407 NEW CASTLE, Delaware -- Delaware Air National Guard Headquarters, 166th Airlift Wing 2600 Spruance Drive New Castle, DE 19720-1615 Lincoln, Pa. resident born in Wilmington and a graduate of Brandywine H.S. and Wilmington College replaces longtime New Castle, Delaware resident Photos of each Chief available on request; news media invited to Sunday event; must arrive by 2:00 p.m. Contact: Tech. Sgt. Benjamin Matwey Public Affairs Specialist, 166th Airlift Wing Cell 302-593-2126, or office 302-323-3369 E-mail: Benjamin.Matwey@denewc.ang.af.mil Release No. 2007-04-002 April 12, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NEW CASTLE - Chief Master Sgt. Holly Morris, a resident Lincoln University, Pa., has been appointed as the new state command chief for the Delaware Air National Guard, the 10th such person to hold this position. A change of authority ceremony will take place on base Sunday April 15 at 2:30 p.m. The state command chief is the senior enlisted member and is responsible for all affairs concerning the enlisted members of the organization. The appointment means that the top two enlisted leadership positions in the Delaware Air Guard are both females for the first time in the history of the unit. In Sept. 2006 Chief Master Sgt. Lynn Davis became the 166th Airlift Wing's fifth wing command chief. The State Command Chief coordinates with the National Guard Bureau, the Adjutant General of the Delaware National Guard (DNG), the Assistant Adjutant General for Air and the DNG Joint Force Headquarters, and serves as a liaison between those offices and the 166th Airlift Wing Command Chief. The State Command Chief position was created in 2000, with a star added to the chevron of the Chief Master Sergeant rank to better designate the authority of the position (formerly known as the State Senior Enlisted Advisor). The Air National Guard mirrored the Air Force structure that resulted in the title change of the position from State SEA to State Command Chief. Chief Holly Morris is concurrently assigned as the Employee Relations Specialist in the Delaware National Guard Joint Force Headquarters Human Resource Office. She was born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware, enlisting in the Delaware ANG shortly after graduating from Brandywine High School in 1977. She became a member of the 142nd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron and completed basic military training in December 1977, followed by technical training as a medical services specialist at the Air Force School of Health Care Sciences at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas. Her training continued to include a clinical preceptorship at Pease AFB, N.H., and subsequent attendance at the Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, Brooks AFB, Texas, for training as an aeromedical evacuation technician. Chief Morris separated from the Delaware ANG in late 1981 following the birth of her son, and returned to the Delaware ANG two years later. A member of the 142nd AES for over 20 years, Chief Morris began her full-time career in 1985 as a federal technician in the 142nd AES, serving in three consecutive assignments. As an Aeromedical Evacuation Technician Flight Instructor and Evaluator, she deployed many times for exercises, contingencies and peacekeeping operations throughout the U.S. and to Africa, Germany, Panama, and Saudi Arabia with service in Desert Shield and Desert Storm. While assigned to the 142nd AES she augmented the 9th Air Force Inspector General (IG) Team on Aircrew Standardization/Evaluation Visits, evaluating Aeromedical Evacuation units from active duty, AF Reserve, and ANG units. She also augmented the Air Mobility Command IG Team, serving as an evaluator on several Air Force Operational Readiness Inspections. Awarded the Chief Enlisted Aircrew Badge in 1995, Chief Morris had accrued over 1,700 flying hours during her tenure in the AE Squadron. In 1999 she began a full-time position in the Human Resource Office, Delaware National Guard Headquarters. As the Employee Relations Specialist Chief Morris manages the employee benefits programs for the federal workforce. She oversees the Performance and Incentive Awards Programs, Health and Life Insurance Programs, Retirement Programs, Thrift Savings Plan program, Employee Pay and Leave Programs, Employee Assistance Program, and the workers' compensation program. A regional representative on the National Guard Bureau (NGB) Employee Relations Advisory Council since 2000, Chief Morris was elected as the national council chairperson in May 2006. An active member of the Delaware Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) committee for the past five years, she currently serves as Awards Chairperson. Chief Morris holds two Associates of Applied Science Degrees through the Community College of the Air Force, and received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Human Resource Management from Wilmington College, graduating summa cum laude as the 2004 recipient of the Academic Excellence Award for the Business Division. An active supporter of DNG community events, Chief Morris contributes her support to the annual DNG children's holiday party, Special Olympics Delaware Summer Games and Plane Pull fundraisers, Ronald McDonald House events and Salvation Army Bell-Ringing. Chief Morris is a life member of the Enlisted Association of the National Guard, and a member of the Air Force Sergeants Association, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Sigma Beta Delta Honor Society, and is registered with the Women in Military Service for America national memorial. Following her selection as the Delaware ANG Senior NCO of the Year for 1997, Chief Morris was selected as the ANG Outstanding Airman of the Year (Senior NCO) for 1998, the sole Delaware ANG recipient with this distinction. Brig. Gen. Hugh Broomall, Assistant Adjutant General for Air, Delaware National Guard, will preside at the April 15 change of authority ceremony, and the honored guest will be Maj. Gen. Francis Vavala, Adjutant General of the Delaware National Guard. Outgoing State Command Chief Daniel Young has served in the position for five-and-a-half years. After completing his 36-year career in the Delaware ANG, Chief Young will continue serving troops and the local community in his new job as an assistant program support specialist in the Delaware Committee for Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) functioning as a liaison for troops from all military service branches in Delaware. The Delaware ESGR Committee is led by Mr. Joseph Viskocil. "Chief Morris and I served together in the 142nd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron from the 1970s through the 1990s, and I know she is a great replacement who knows what Airmen need and how to manage programs and policies to enhance the career experience for the enlisted force," said Chief Master Sgt. Dan Young. Incoming State Command Chief Holly Morris said, "The opportunity to serve my fellow enlisted members is a high privilege and an honor, and one I don't take lightly. As the 10th State Command Chief I am proud to be a part of that lineage, to follow in the footsteps of our great enlisted leaders." Chief Morris added, "I would like to thank Chief Dan Young for his mentorship, but most of all for providing an excellent example of how the duties of the position should be accomplished. I am committed to serving our enlisted members, and I could not be more excited or passionate about performing the duties and responsibilities of the State Command Chief -- ensuring the concerns of the enlisted troops are represented to senior leadership and proving counsel to our Adjutant General and Assistant Adjutant General for Air on enlisted issues and programs." Chief Young was the ninth State Command Chief Master Sergeant of the Delaware Air National Guard. Born and raised in New Castle, Delaware, in January 1966 he enlisted in the 142nd Aeromedical Evacuation Flight, Delaware ANG and remained in the 142nd AEF until January 1972 when he separated from the military. In June 1977, he returned to the 142 AEF as an aeromedical technician and in August 1980 became the unit's third fulltime senior health technician. In February 1992 he became the medical manager of the 166th Medical Squadron and remained in that position for nearly 10 years until December 2001 when he was selected as the State Command Chief Master Sergeant. Delaware ANG State Senior Enlisted Advisors (begun in 1980): 1980-1982: Chief Master Sgt. William L. Godwin, 1982-1984: Chief Master Sgt. Vincent L. Riley 1984-1988: Chief Master Sgt. Clark D. Weber 1988-1991 Chief Master Sgt. Stanley A. Marzec 1991-1994 Chief Master Sgt. Emedio A. Nardone 1994-1996 Chief Master Sgt. C. Alan Walls 1996-2000 Chief Master Sgt. Joan M. Holder (first female) Delaware ANG State Command Chiefs (position formerly known as State Senior Enlisted Advisor): 2000-2001: Chief Master Sgt. William G. Blest 2001-2007: Chief Master Sgt. Dan Young 2007-Present: Chief Master Sgt. Holly A. Morris 166th Airlift Wing Command Chiefs (position begun in 1996): 1996-1999: Chief Master Sgt. Melvin M. "Sonny" Gershman 1999-2001: Chief Master Sgt. Donald M. Goldstein 2001-2002: Chief Master Sgt. William G. Blest 2002-2006: Chief Master Sgt. John A. Jaskewich 2006-Present: Chief Master Sgt. Lynn M. Davis This release is in the public domain, and any part may be used as written. -- 30 --