Top enlisted leader in the Air Force explains why he wears his father’s service pin

Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force David Wolfe wears a physical reminder of why he chose to make the service his career.

Fastened inside his service coat is an Air Force pin that belonged to his father, who served as a combat photographer during World War II and later joined the Air Force when it became an independent military branch.

“When I put on the uniform of the United States Air Force and feel the weight of my father’s pin against my chest, I remember that I am just a single thread in a massive tapestry of legacy woven by the lives of millions of airmen,” Wolfe wrote in a recent service-wide message. “It is a tapestry stained with blood, sweat, and tears… and it is beautiful.”

His father, Staff Sgt. Thomas Robert Wolfe, was assigned to the 6th Photographic Technical Squadron during World War II, and he was one of the first photographers to take pictures of Hiroshima and Nagasaki following the atomic bombings in 1945, according to the Air Force. After the war, the elder Wolfe joined the Air Force in 1947.

“My father didn’t serve because it was convenient,” Wolfe wrote. “He served because World War II had taken a toll on society that didn’t allow him to ignore the cost of war. He served to honor the Americans who fought and pay homage to those who died.”

For Wolfe, military service is defined by overcoming obstacles, and the difficulties and setbacks that airmen face ultimately build character, he wrote.

Wolfe acknowledged that there have been times when he has considered leaving the Air Force, adding that life in the service includes being away from family and friends, missing people’s birthdays, and navigating difficult assignments.

“The pin inside my coat reminds me that service isn’t just a phase of life, it’s the whole point,” he wrote.

Wolfe’s message was the first of his “Why Series” letters, which will be shared with airmen each month. The letters will answer questions from airmen about what the Air Force is doing, Wolfe said in a Monday video posted on his official Facebook page.

“I think we owe it to our folks to let them know why we’re asking them to spend their time in a certain way; why we’re asking them to focus on a certain mission imperative; why we are asking them to, maybe, pivot to a new standard,” Wolfe said in the video. “There’s all kinds of things out there that people want to know the answer to the question why.”

Wolfe was named as the Air Force’s senior enlisted leader in November. Prior to that, he served as chief master sergeant of Air Combat Command at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia. Since enlisting in the Air Force in February 1992, Wolfe has spent much of his career serving in security forces units. He also served as the senior enlisted leader for Combined Joint Special Operations Air Component, Afghanistan, at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, from August to October 2017.

For the first letter, Wolfe decided to explain why he serves in the Air Force. He said in the video that all airmen need to be able to answer for themselves what they plan to do with their careers and lives.

“It’s a pretty important question for everybody to know the answer to,” Wolfe said.