Air Force Special Operations Command has named a new top enlisted leader nearly two months after his predecessor was removed from the role amid an ongoing investigation.
Chief Master Sgt. Courtney Freeman officially assumed command during a ceremony Monday at Hurlburt Field in Florida. He’s replacing Chief Master Sgt. Anthony Green, who was removed from the AFSOC leadership role in mid-April due to “a loss in confidence” in his abilities — a phrase often used by all the military services to obscure the specific reason behind a firing.
Lt. Col. Rebecca Heyse, a command spokesperson, told Military.com on Wednesday that Green “has been reassigned outside of AFSOC HQ and [an] investigation is still ongoing.”
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Freeman will be overseeing Air Force Special Operations Command’s 21,000 air commandos and advising AFSOC commander Lt. Gen. Michael Conley on the training, education and quality of life of the enlisted force.
“Air commandos operate with unmatched skill, discipline and resolve. They embody the very essence of quiet professionalism,” Freeman said at the ceremony, according to an AFSOC news release. “As your command chief, I stand with you shoulder to shoulder to ensure that we remain ready to be whatever our nation needs us to be any place, any time, anywhere.”
Conley’s dismissal of Green was “made after careful consideration of the circumstances,” the commander revealed in an internal email leaked online and reviewed by Military.com in April. AFSOC confirmed the email was authentic and accurate.
“As airmen, we are entrusted with the incredible responsibility and held to the highest standards of conduct,” Conley wrote in the April email. “Upholding these standards is non-negotiable, and maintaining good order and discipline is fundamental to who we are.”
The nature of Green’s dismissal and the subject of the ongoing investigation have not been publicly revealed.
“Chief Freeman, I know you share this vision, and with your extensive AFSOC and leadership experience, I am confident that your guidance will be instrumental in leading our enlisted force through the challenges ahead,” Conley said during the ceremony. “I look forward to working alongside you to strengthen our air commandos and ensure that AFSOC continues to be the best in the world at what we do.”
Freeman joined the Air Force in 1997, according to his service biography. His background is mainly in enlisted aviation, where he’s racked up 4,000 flight hours, with 1,000 of those being in combat. He has deployed for military operations Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, New Dawn and Inherent Resolve.
Prior to taking over as the top enlisted leader for AFSOC, Freeman was the senior enlisted leader for the assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs at the Pentagon, according to his biography.
Before that role, he was the command chief of the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey.
Related: Top Enlisted Leader at Air Force Special Operations Command Fired, Facing Investigation
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