[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 65 (Thursday, April 30, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1024-E1025]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              IN HONOR OF CHIEF MASTER SERGEANT PAUL AIREY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ALLEN BOYD

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 30, 2009

  Mr. BOYD. Madam Speaker, on March 11, 2009, the Air Force, the Panama 
City community and indeed our Nation, lost one of the most respected 
Airmen in the history of the Air Force--the very first Chief Master 
Sergeant of the Air Force--Paul Wesley Airey.
  Chief Airey was an Airman's Airman and a true Air Force pioneer. His 
legacy is the professional enlisted force we have serving our Nation 
today.
  Chief Airey was born in New Bedford, MA, on December 13, 1923. He 
enlisted in the Air force at age eighteen, shortly after the bombing of 
Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

[[Page E1025]]

  The first chief master sergeant of the Air Force was always a leader. 
During World War II he flew as a B-24 radio operator and additional 
duty aerial gunner. On his 28th mission, then-Technical Sergeant Airey 
and his fellow crewmen were shot down over Vienna, Austria, captured, 
and held prisoner by the German air force from July 1944 to May 1945. 
During his time as a prisoner of war he worked tirelessly to meet the 
basic needs of fellow prisoners, even through a 90-day forced march.
  Chief Airey held the top Air Force enlisted position from April 3, 
1967 to July 31, 1969. During his tenure he worked to change loan 
establishments charging exorbitant rates outside the air base gates and 
to improve low retention during the Vietnam Conflict. Chief Airey also 
led a team that laid the foundation for the enlisted promotion testing 
system, a system that has stood the test of time and which is still in 
use today. He also advocated for an Air Force-level Senior 
Noncommissioned Officer Academy and this vision became reality when the 
academy opened in 1973.
  Chief Airey retired August 1, 1970. He continued advocating for 
Airmen's rights by serving on the boards of numerous Air Force and 
enlisted professional military organizations throughout the years. He 
was a member of the Board of Trustees for the Airmen Memorial Museum, a 
member of the Air Force Memorial Foundation and the Air University 
Foundation.
  On the north wall of the Air Force Memorial in Washington D.C., Chief 
Airey's thoughts on Airmen are immortalized, ``When I think of the 
enlisted force, I see dedication, determination, loyalty and valor.''
  Before he became Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, Chief Airey 
was assigned to the Air Defense Command's Civil Engineering Squadron at 
Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., where he was the unit's first sergeant. 
Chief Airey and his wife lived in Panama City after he retired. The 
Tyndall community will greatly miss the chief. An internment ceremony 
is scheduled for 9 a.m. on 28 May, 2009 at Arlington National Cemetery.

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