From trouble to chief

One percent of Airmen reach the rank of chief master sergeant. Years of service, dedication, thought, sacrifice and sweat are put toward the effort of achieving an Airman’s eighth stripe.

While digging deeper into a chief’s background, an opportunity presents itself to learn that the top 1 percent isn’t perfect either.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen to me — becoming a chief,” said Chief Master Sgt. David Martin, U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa safety functional manager. “I was born to an alcoholic father and depressed mother. I lived in 14 different houses and went to 11 different schools. My family completely dissolved, and I was on my own at 15 years old.”

Difficulties sprouted throughout his life and he would turn to alcohol to solve his problems.

“I dove head first into a bottle,” Martin said. “In 1997, I decided I didn’t like my wife anymore and I was leaving. I remember the day I looked at my 6-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son in the eye and said, ‘Daddy is leaving.’”

However, after attending a 50,000-person Promise Keepers conference, Martin was convinced he had to make amends. He asked his family for forgiveness and for their help in rebuilding the family. Life eventually began to improve, Martin said.

“I made master sergeant first time at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., in 2002, when I became the superintendent of ground safety,” Martin said. “That promotion meant more commitments and more deployments. So I deployed to Baghdad International Airport in June 2003.”

While stationed in Baghdad, Martin began to further his development as a person.

“The largest lesson I learned during my deployment was that I could go six months without drinking,” he said. “I hit the gym like never before, I left Iraq 17 pounds lighter than when I arrived and for the first time in years, I was sober.”

His sobriety didn’t last though. Soon, Martin would end up back where he started.

“We arrived at Tinker Air Base, Okla., in July 2009,” Martin said. “I felt slighted by the Air Force because of my assignment to Tinker. I thought life sucked for me personally. I dove so deep into a bottle that it started to negatively affect the relationships I had with my wife, son and daughter again. I wasn’t keeping the promise I made 10-plus years earlier, that if they forgive me I would spend the rest of my life loving them.”

One set of skills never evaded him: the ability to work his way through a dark situation, he said.

“Someway, somehow, I learned early in my career that there was one of two ways to get out of a job you don’t like,” Martin said. “You can either promote yourself out of a job or get in trouble and be taken off that post. I chose promotion. I faced every job I did for the Air Force with the thought process that the Air Force standard is my starting point and I will do what it takes to excel at it.”

Martin said he is the first to admit he has unbecoming issues in his life, but seeking help was the key to overcoming many of them.

“Getting help for the problems you have will not negatively impact your career,” Martin said. “I am living proof of that. When given the opportunities and programs to help overcome shortfalls, take advantage of them. They’ve helped me to be sober for over three years now.”

Keeping the attitude of continually bettering himself as a person, leader and Airman, Martin said he still looks for mentors to inspire him.

“What encourages me, what inspires me, are the servant leaders out there,” Martin said. “It takes courage to listen to someone and relate to them by letting them know you’ve been through similar, if not the same circumstance years before.”

He said the realization that chiefs are human too is something he wants people to know.

“You see a chief stripe on and people think you’ve been stellar and perfect, and that’s just not the case,” Martin said. “I have failed as a human being and haven’t done everything I needed to or should have at a particular time. At the same time, there is honesty, forgiveness and ability to forgive people. We don’t have to continually beat ourselves down. We can learn from our failures and be better tomorrow.”

Being a chief isn’t just about power and respect, Martin said. It’s a role where mentors and those who supply guidance should reside.

“We shouldn’t do things to become a chief or do things because we are a chief. We should reach out to people because it’s the right thing to do,” he said.

“I sit here 26 years later, look at where I came from and try to share with people and give them hope,” Martin added. “One thing the Air Force did for me was level the playing field. It didn’t hold my past against me.”

Martin said he would never let himself forget who he is.

“What has influenced me and encouraged me the most was how Maj. David Gray was a leader,” he said. “I met Gray, a former air liaison and tactical air control party troop, while stationed on Ramstein. He was former enlisted and poured his heart out for his men and women. Eventually, he would earn a commission, and in 2012, voluntarily led his unit into Afghanistan.”

Tragically, on Aug. 8, 2012, while en route to meeting tribal leaders in the Kunar Province, Afghanistan, Gray gave his life in defense for his country when suicide bombers attacked.

“He was David Gray the leader, not Major Gray a leader, while he was with us,” Martin continued. “He was an example of how we should lead through servant leadership. I think when some people, unfortunately, reach a leadership position, fear allows people to know who they really are.”

Martin said he appreciates that people listened to him and respected him because of the stripes on his arm. His aim as a chief, however, is to be a leader the Airmen around him want to follow because of who he is.

“You look at me as a chief and everything I’m doing; I’m going to try to be a chief. What I experienced with David Gray was the person he was and the successful way he encouraged and led people because of who he was. David Gray was a leader, who happened to be Major David Gray. That is something I want to be.

“I strive to emulate the qualities of people like Gray, the servant leader,” he continued. “He was honest with the people he worked for and the people he worked with — integrity. He lived a life serving something bigger than himself — service. He did the best job he could at everything he did: Airman, husband, father and friend — excellence. That is something I want to be.”

“We cannot let our past or most recent setback define us,” Martin said. “We must bounce back and work to be a better Airman tomorrow.”