Tomorrow is a day the Security Forces and Air Force loses a great leader. First, some historical perspective. Senior Master Sergeant is the second highest rank you can achieve in the AF and only 2% of the enlisted force are allowed to be this rank. In 2013, only 18.7% of the enlisted force were women. In my 21 years in the service, prior to coming to Ohio, I have only worked with one other SMSgt who was a woman in the Security Forces and that was in 1993-95. There were two other women I know who made it, but my point is that it's very rare for my career field, with over 24,000 cops to have women in this pay grade. To add more to this rarity is the way our career field used to be. Prior to 1997, our career field was known as Security Police and we were split into specialties: Law Enforcement and Security Specialists. A third arm of our career field was Combat Arms. They were never badge wearers but were aligned with us. Now, if you came in "career" CATM prior to 1997 and made it up through the ranks to SMSgt, you were even more rare. Stephanie Liles is exactly this person and tomorrow she retires from the Air Force after 24 years serving our country. To the bean counters, we are just numbers but on a personal level, she is more than that. She is a strong-willed leader and true role model for all servicemen and women. Leaders aren't afraid to make decisions; leaders aren't afraid to embrace confrontation at times; leaders aren't afraid to tackle the hard tasks, train people and get dirty while doing it. Stephanie is all of this and more. In fact, on her last day of work, instead of being in her office, she worked "the line" one last time. That's right, she went over to the range and assisted with weapons qualification. There is NO DOUBT in my mind that she would have made Chief. In fact, if she wanted to, it would have been done 2-3 years ago. Oh, some more AF facts to move this along. Only 1% of the enlisted force can be the rank of Chief Master Sergeant and as of 2012, there were only seven Chiefs in the Security Forces who were women. However, as her and I discussed on many occasions, while one of the Air Force's Core values is "Service Before Self"; it does not mean "Service Before Family". You see, Stephanie's husband is a Chief in the Security Forces. With this, his assignments may not always be where his family is and right now, he is not stationed with her. So, she not only is a top leader in our unit, she is also the Matriarch of her family. Sometimes it spills over into work, and many affectionately call her Mom. This is in no way to demean her. In our world, this is a term of respect and endearment. Anyway, Stephanie made a conscious decision during a point in her career: Her family is first. She decided not to check the final block to achieve the highest rank you can as an Enlisted member. And for that, I have a profound respect. So as we say goodbye and celebrate her service, I have some words for those who stay behind: You need to step your game up. Some pretty big shoes are going to be need to be filled once she is done. I know a few that are on the right path and for that the Air Force is in good hands. But after tomorrow, the Security Forces loses a great leader.
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