JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash— --
Civic Leader and local car dealership owner Matt Welch
received the opportunity to shadow the 62nd Airlift Wing command chief for a
day July 29.
Matt and Amy Welch, Auburn Volkswagen owners and Pierce
Military and Business Alliance members, were selected as honorary command chief
by Chief Master Sgt. Tico Mazid, 62nd AW command chief and Matt was afforded
the opportunity to meet and mentor young Airmen as he shadowed the chief and
embraced his role as honorary command chief.
“I heard about the program through PMBA,” said Welch. “Past
honorary commanders kept telling my bride (Amy) and I that we would love it and
it’s a great thing to do, so I was honored to be asked by Chief Master Sgt.
Mazid to be the honorary command chief.”
To kick off the day, Welch met Mazid in his office to go
over the list of events for the day.
Their first stop was at the Joint Base Lewis-McChord
Firefighter Legacy Memorial unveiling and firefighter combat challenge at the
McChord Field fire station.
While there, the two witnessed a ceremony honoring the
conclusion of Air Force Firefighters at JBLM and then met with the participants
of the challenge.
Once they left the fire station, Welch was able to sit in on
some of the wing’s daily meetings.
"Attending meetings with the chief helped me better
understand the leadership here," said Welch. "They have a very
difficult job that only few can do."
After the morning meetings, Welch joined a panel of
leadership to include Col. Leonard Kosinski, 62nd AW commander, Col. Stephen
Snelson, 62nd AW vice commander and Mazid, as they visited with Airmen from the
First Term Airmen Center.
“I am not prior military, but I have a lot of family members
that have served and currently serve this wonderful nation,” said Welch. “So it
was a great honor to sit on the panel with these awesome leaders and talk to
the Airmen.”
Welch followed up the FTAC visit with the Team McChord quarterly
awards ceremony and ended his visit with meeting Airmen in the McChord Field
Air Traffic Control tower.
“The quarterly awards were wonderful,” said Welch. “Just to
see the comradery, the energy, having everybody in the theatre was fabulous. Being
up in the tower was just as awesome, but my favorite part was talking to the
young Airmen that just got here. Anytime you can tell some of what you’ve
learned over the years and impart that into people that are just beginning
their careers is a wonderful opportunity, so I loved doing that. Just to see
what a command chief does on base was awesome.”
Welch and Mazid both agreed that they have a built a great
relationship and look forward to continuing servicing the Airmen here at
McChord.
”It is extremely important to have a good working
relationship with our civic leaders in order to educate and increase their
knowledge about the military and our installation,” said Mazid. “Mr. Welch was
selected as the honorary command chief because of his amazing support to our
servicemembers at JBLM and his desire to learn more about the military as a
community partner. I was extremely impressed
by both Matt and Amy from when I first met them. Their very first question was, ‘How can we
support your Airmen?’"