40th anniversary Milestone event reconnects former NCO Academy commandants

  • Published
  • By Mike Joseph
  • JBSA-Lackland Public Affairs
November 29, 2013 --  When several former Robert D. Gaylor NCO Academy commandants talked about the academy and its history, it was like continuing a reunion that started during the school's 40th anniversary festivities Nov. 8-9 at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. Retired chief master sergeants and former commandants - G.W. Bandy, Bobby G. Renfroe and William K. Workman - live in the San Antonio area. Though they don't see each other
very often, their role at the academy reconnects them when they do. The recent two-day anniversary celebration was a chance to reconnect. "We mixed and mingled and talked
about professional military education, the old days and the new days," said Renfroe.
"It was a great time. We got to see some people we haven't seen in a while. I haven't seen George (Bandy) since I don't know when, probably 20 years.

"Bill (Workman) and I talk a lot, but I haven't seen him in two or three years." Workman, a graduate of the academy's second class in 1974, enjoyed the weekend's camaraderie and was impressed by the banquet speaker, Gen. Robin Rand, commander,
Air Education and Training Command. "The best part of the banquet was General Rand's speech," said Workman, commandant from 1990-92. "He was bubbling over about the academy, the Air Force and the people. It was a fabulous speech."
Philip Topper, commandant from 2003-06 who now lives in El Paso after retiring in 2011, appreciated the new AETC commander attending the banquet. "I went up to General Rand afterwards and thanked him for coming," Topper said. "To me, when a four-star (general) is willing to take the time and come to an event like that, (it means he takes the academy) very seriously and that it's important." Coming together to celebrate the academy's milestone event also brought an opportunity for reflection.

"These guys (Renfroe and Workman) are the backbone of the academy and for enlisted PME in the Air Force," said Bandy, commandant from 1983-85. "When I got here, they had already laid all the ground work," he said. "(All I had to do) was keep the ball rolling.
You could see the work that had been put into it. I had a real easy job, one of my best assignments." Renfroe, who later in his career became the first enlisted commandant of the Air Force Senior NCO Academy, was an instructor when the school opened Nov. 14, 1973, as the Air Training Command NCO Academy. "It was a struggle back then," said Renfroe, who returned as director of education in 1980 before becoming commandant from 1981-83. "We wrote the curriculum and all the tests. We did everything." Today's curriculum is now developed by the Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education at Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala. "In the case of many of our students (in the beginning), they were here not because they wanted to be, but because someone saw potential in them that they could get better with what we had to offer," Workman said.

"The rewarding part for me as an instructor was to see them come in the first few days so negative, but by the end, they were ready to go back and make changes," he said. The first classes were held in Weaver Hall, a space shared with Air Police, now known as Air Force Security Forces. As class sizes began to grow, the academy moved to the JBSALackland Training Annex. After calling four different annex facilities home in the 1970s, the academy moved into its present location, building 10634, on the training side of main Lackland in May 1980. Known as the ATC NCO Academy and then the Lackland NCO Academy, it was renamed the Robert D. Gaylor NCO Academy in March 2006 to honor Gaylor, the fifth Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force.

"That's also (the time) when the ground work was laid for improvements to the academy," Topper said. "I don't bring that up as accolades for myself, but to show how long it takes to get things done." A construction makeover of the facility didn't begin until 2008 and it was another two years before the $6 million renovation project was completed. From an original complement of 75 students and 17 staff members in 1973, approximately 224 students now attend classes every seven weeks. The academy staff, which includes 20 instructors and fi ve superintendents, supports nearly 1,500 students a year who travel to JBSA-Lackland from around the world to attend the school. And yet, the more things change, the more they stay the same. For 40 years, the academy's mission has been to prepare selected NCOs for positions of greater responsibility by broadening their leadership and managerial capabilities and by expanding their perspective of the military profession. Renfroe said now, as in the beginning, it's still
"leading by example. Look at the staff today and how professional they are. They're immaculate in their uniforms." "That's what we were preaching to our students:
go back and lead by example," said Workman. A final exchange between the former commandants then linked 40 years together. "Look at the staff," said Bandy. "They all have that gleam in their eye. They want to take care of the troops. We're all Airmen and these guys perpetuate that and carry it on." "Up there at Weaver Hall, it was absolutely horrible," Renfroe said about the fi rst year. "To walk these halls and see what it is today, it touches yourheart." "It's changed a lot," Workman said. "For the better," added Renfroe.
"But (the mission) still stays the same," concluded Workman".