AFRS vice commander retires after 30 years of service

Published May 19, 2009
By Christa D'Andrea
Air Force Recruiting Service public affairs

RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- "I suppose I joined thinking I would look cool in a flight suit. I did too," the colonel said with a smile.

While Col. Stan Chase, Air Force Recruiting Service vice commander, would like to claim he joined the Air Force for patriotic reasons, he and his wife, Irene, decided in 1978 that they wanted to "try something else."

"I was married and a graduate student at Cal Tech in physical organic chemistry," the colonel said. "Doing OK but not enjoying life."

Thirty years later, Maj. Gen. Mary Kay Hertog, director of security forces at the Pentagon, and one of the colonel's former commanders, retired him from the Air Force here May 1.

Having been commissioned a second lieutenant through the Officer Training Corps program in 1979, the colonel has held a variety of positions at the wing level from line crewmember to commander.

"My career field was navigator, but my profession was 'officer in the United States Air Force,'" said Colonel Chase reflecting on his career.

"When approached that way, every job was challenging, rewarding and memorable," he said.

While the colonel would state he isn't sure he is all that memorable, except "they [AFRS members] know I cry pretty easily, and smoke too much," the former 37th Training Wing vice commander at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, is well known throughout the recruiting command for his sensitivity and love for the Air Force.

During his retirement ceremony, AFRS Command Chief Master Sgt. Vance Clarke and the AFRS Chief's Group presented Colonel Chase a chief's sculpture making him an honorary chief, a symbol of their appreciation for his dedication to the men and women of AFRS.

As the recruiting service vice commander, Colonel Chase was responsible for accessing qualified men and women into the Air Force. Nearly 100,000 Airmen entered active duty during his tenure as "The Vice" from July 2006 to the day he retired.

For those new to the Air Force, the colonel's advice to you -- "brush and floss."

"It may sound silly but taking care of your health and fitness is absolutely critical to our readiness," he said. "And speaking from a perspective of one who only has 11 original equipment teeth left, brush and floss is not trivial advice."

For the recruiters under his command, the colonel's advice -- "our core values are also sound business practices."

"Honesty with our applicants, seeking out the best rather than accepting what walks through the door, this attitude has made Air Force recruiting the envy of the other services," he added.

And while Colonel Chase believes the future of recruiting will include better tools to help predict the success of recruiting, "at the core, successful recruiting will remain a personal business."

"And it should," he said. "Recruiters who are out there every day changing lives rather than 'making goal' are at the heart of what makes us special. There is a reason we call it 'special duty.'"

The colonel, who also served as the 369th Recruiting Group commander, headquartered at Lackland AFB, from November 2002 to July 2004, said the most memorable events in his career "always involved a personal rather than historic event."

Telling someone they've been promoted (or not promoted), one-on-one Delayed Entry Program swear-ins, and hearing the "roll call" at a memorial service for a security forces Airman are all events the colonel says stand out in his memory as clearly today as when they occurred.

His one desire -- to deploy in support of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In October of 2001, "I stood on the flightline at Barksdale watching the B-52s launch as preliminary to Operation Enduring Freedom," he said. "I had politicked hard to go with them but ended up running the air operations group instead."

Then 8th Air Force commander, Lt. Gen. Tom Keck, had told the colonel, "You'll be in it, don't worry."

Although he wasn't able to deploy, "given the number of Airmen I had a hand in finding and training, I like to think I was in the fight," the colonel said referencing the AFRS mission to sustain the combat capability of the Air Force.

Following 30 years of honorable and dedicated service, Colonel Chase plans on decompressing for a few months before eventually finding employment. He said he plans on probably picking up singing again, spending time with his children and grandchildren and hopes to stay active with the Retired Recruiters Association and Operation Blue Suite, AFRS's annual awards program.

"I do know some of my very best friends are spread all over the nation doing important work," he said. "They can always call on me for anything."