Senior chief first Coast Guard member at 1st Sgt. Academy

Senior Master Sergeant David Scott, Air Force First Sergeant Academy instructor, and Coast Guard Senior Chief Petty Officer Jeff Dale, a student at AFFSA, discuss a lesson April 28 at Gunter’s First Sergeant Academy. Chief Dale has the honor of being the first member of the U.S. Coast Guard to attend AFFSA. (Air Force photo/Carl Bergquist)

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Senior chief first Coast Guard member at 1st Sgt. Academy

Published May 11, 2010
By Carl Bergquist
Air University Public Affairs

MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- The Air Force First Sergeant Academy experienced a first by having a member from the U.S. Coast Guard in its most recent class.

Senior Chief Petty Officer Jeff Dale, Coast Guard Station Charlie at Charleston, S.C., said he had a couple of his staff members participate in an AFFSA symposium a while back, and he was so impressed with what he heard from them, he asked to be allowed to attend the academy.

"My request was honored, and here I am," he said. "I couldn't help but notice the similarity between the jobs of Coast Guard command senior chiefs and Air Force first sergeants. I have a goal when I return to South Carolina of getting the Coast Guard to send all new command senior chiefs to the course. I think it will be good for them."

Chief Dale, who graduated April 30 from AFFSA, said the best things he learned during the course were how to deal with individual enlisted members, and what senior enlisted members can do to help them.

"The role first sergeants play in dealing with a member's family is something I want to expand on for the Coast Guard," he said. "I've learned that some of my duties as a command senior chief translate into what a first sergeant does. This also applies to some of the duties of an Air Force command chief."

Chief Dale said he enlisted in the Navy in 1977 and spent four years in that service before joining the Coast Guard. He has 23 years in service, and in addition to AFFSA, he has attended the Coast Guard's Senior Leadership Academy and Command Master Chief Course and the Air Force Senior NCO Academy.

Senior Master Sgt. David Scott, AFFSA Active Duty Course director and Chief Dale's instructor at AFFSA, said he was very pleased with the chief's performance during the course.

"He did wonderfully. A lot of this stuff relates to what he does with the Coast Guard, and he had a good understanding of what I told him," he said. "He also had a positive attitude and was a great student."

Sergeant Scott said the academy would "love to have" more Coast Guard members attend the course, and for that matter, members from all sister services. He said anyone who works with Airmen in their jobs is welcome at AFFSA.

"Chief Dale works regularly with Airmen from Charleston Air Force Base, S.C., and that qualified him to come to our academy," he said. "I think the course has helped him. I can tell by talking with him that he is a great leader, and hopefully the 'second perspective' he received here from the Air Force may help him in making future decisions."