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Chief Mills: the wing's wingman

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Laura L. Valentine
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  When asked what lesson in life was most impactful, Chief Master Sgt. Charles "Charlie" Mills, 20th Fighter Wing command chief, only hesitated for a second before replying with a few words of wisdom he received from his grandfather as a young boy.

"The best thing a man can give is his word," he said, summing up that statement as the lesson that has carried him through his Air Force career.

In 1989, Mills had no intentions of carrying on his family's military legacy by joining the service. He was simply looking for something to do.

With a young family to provide for, Mills' reason for looking into the services as a job opportunity was for the benefits.

"Everyone's 'why' changes along the way," he said. "Mine was to take care of my family."

By the time his first assignment ended, he was stationed close to home at Dyess AFB, Texas, where Mills was content with his plan to retire as a technical sergeant without moving around much.

It wasn't until meeting a master sergeant who thought he had more potential to succeed that his career began to evolve.

Landing a position at Langely AFB, Va., Mills experienced a high-speed atmosphere that was a total change for him.

"It changed my perspective of the Air Force," he said. "The Air Force was a way of life then; it wasn't just something I was doing, it was something that I wanted to be a part of."

"I had great supervisors to keep me motivated and keep me challenged," he said. "If there was one point in my career where I got it, and I wanted to be something bigger, it was at Langley in 1997."

The mentorship and influence of key senior NCOs throughout his career, as well as loyalty and honesty, are the driving forces behind Mills' hopes for his time as the 20th FW command chief.

"My goal here is to have Airmen see how important they are and see the big picture," Mills said. "Our's [Airmen] are the best in the world. I want people to have a positive attitude and to be motivated."

Striving to be an honest and loyal man, Mills hopes to impress upon the Airmen of the 20th FW the same traits.

"Our airmen out there - in being a wingman - need to be brutally honest sometimes," he said. "They need constructive criticism, to be truthful to each other. That only makes us better."

Mills comes to the 20th FW after fulfilling the position of assignments and AEF Operations Directorate superintendent at Headquarters Air Force Personnel Center, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, and is looking forward to the experience.

"In a nutshell, I am this wing's wingman," he said. "That doesn't mean I'm going to say what everyone wants to hear, or do what they want me to do. A wingman's going to tell you when you are wrong. But they are going to help you correct what is wrong. I want people to see me as their wingman."