WESTOVER AIR RESERVE BASE, Mass. - --
Salutes, speeches, and two ceremonies combined into one during the Patriot Wing's top enlisted billet change held at the Base Hangar Nov. 1. Command CMSgt. David Carbin concluded his 33-year career with turning over the wing command chief 's responsibility to Chief Master Sgt. Timothy Maguire.
"Congratulations on your selection," Col. Albert Lupenski said, as the 439th Airlift Wing commander
gestured to CMSgt. Maguire. "The competition for this selection to command chief was what I call fierce... I know his number one priority is our Airmen. And that's my number one priority."
Command CMSgt. Maguire's first remarks to the Patriot Wing audience as the new command chief highighted reminders to all enlisted members about their career responsibilities.
"Because of my mentors, my goals in the military began to change," he said of his service during the early 1990s. "My mentors were there to help me achieve those goals. To all my mentors, and you all know who you are, thank you for seeing something in me that I could not see. Without your foresight I would not be here today. Senior NCOs and NCOs, continue to mentor your Airmen, and continue learning."
The new command chief has been at Westover for 24 years, and has deployed four times, including Operation Desert Storm and Iraqi Fre edom. He 's also a previous first sergeant with the 439th Maintenance Squadron and 42nd Aerial Port Squadron.
"If you see me in a hallway anywhere, stop me and talk with me," he told Airmen on the UTA. I'm here for you." Maguire advised all Airmen to be proactive in seeking out answers for their career progression - and be open-minded too.
"If something's not going the way it should go for you, ask the question," he said. But be prepared for the answer."
Following the change of responsibility ceremony, CMSgt. Carbin took the stage again for the retirement portion of the event. "I didn't select him as a command chief," said Lupenski. "But I would have. He's direct. And that's
what a wing commander needs to hear." CMSgt. Carbin, who first joined the Patriot Wing in 1988, said he instantaneously realized he'd joined a capable Air Force Reserve unit. He'd just left active-duty at Travis Air Force Base, Calif.
"I knew that the people in this wing liked to take care of people," he said. "I worked through the very last day of my enlistment today... that's what we need to do. Because it's the right thing to do. It's the thing we need to do when we serve our country. And work with your people, talk to each other."