Chief Master Sgt. William Picket 9th Air Support Ops

Chief Master Sergeant William Picket was a Senior Enlisted Leader at the 9th Air Support Operations Squadron at Fort Hood, Texas. He served as a senior advisor to the Commander, providing oversight to organize, train, and equip personnel for integrating airpower effects. His responsibilities included leading 7 international operating locations in combat and ensuring personnel remained focused on their mission

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Fheart Radio is proud to support our military community from
the largest military installation in North America. Let's go on
post at ford Hood, brought to you by Elder Mitsubishi.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
We're pleased this morning to be joined by Chief Master
Sergeant William Pickett, third Ear Support Operations Group at ford Hood.
Good morning, Sarah. How are you.

Speaker 3 (00:19):
I'm doing great, Dwayne, thanks for having me on this morning.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Now we're going to start off with a big event
that's coming up at Blora.

Speaker 3 (00:26):
Yeah, the Forehead of MWR is going to be hosting
a night paddleboarding event. It'll start at seven thirty and
run till ten pm on August ninth. Out there, they'll
be incorporating glow sticks and they'll have supplies with the
board rentals, and they'll have games and music out there.
It only costs thirty five dollars per participant for folks

(00:46):
ten years and above, and that's going to include the
rental and then the glow sticks and the glow supplies
and everything. Miners, they'll have to have a parent of
garden there with them and then of course be in
watersports and whatnot. They'll obviously need to have some safety
measures out there. They'll have facilitators out there to keep
everybody safe and based constructions for paddleboarding, so you know,
it's a great opportunity for folks to get out there

(01:08):
and try something new.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
And as always, you can check the ford Hood MWR
or go to Hood dot Army mwr dot com for
all the latest registration information all that can be found there.
That sounds like a really fun event. Let's talk just
a moment about the US Army Soldiers Showdown Fortnite live stream.

Speaker 3 (01:27):
The US Army Soldiers Showdown will be live on Twitch.
It's a sixteen week online tournament used to determine the
best gamers in the Army. Fort Hood Soldiers have consistently
placed first place in most of the weekly events for
North America, which is it's pretty awesome and soldiers and
family members can see them play on Twitch dot tv.

(01:49):
Ford Slash Army Entertainment definitely be sure to check that out.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
On Saturday, we're visiting this morning with Chief Master Sergeant
William Pickett, Third Ear Support Operations Group at Ford Hood.
We talk just a moment about Third Air Support operations.

Speaker 3 (02:03):
Yes, the Third Air Support Operations Group consists of our
headquarters staff here and then also our subordinate squad and
the ninth Air Support Operation Squadron. We currently have, along
with our one of our sister units, the third Combat
Weather Squadron, about two hundred and seventy airmen assigned here
to Forhood. A lot of people don't realize that there's
Air Force here at Fort Hood. And then our group

(02:26):
has subordinate squadrons also out at Fort Carson, Fort Riley,
and Fort Bliss as well. Our units are made up
of really highly trained US Air Force what we call
special Warfare Tactical Air Control Party specialists for short tat peak,
we have various special Warfare mission support airmen, so they
do a lot of other jobs like supply and generator

(02:46):
mechanics and vehicle mechanics and all of our other logistics
and administrative functions, and they're really the backbone of our operations.
We work hand in hand with the third Armor Corps
in the first Calvary Division and other joint partners to
do our mission. The mission for US is to really
provide those special warfare teams really to any theater across
the world. Right, we really focus our readiness on the

(03:09):
conflict in the Pacific. You know, that's where obviously a
lot of our focuses and then we really get out there.
Our job is to deter and out compete and you know,
obviously if necessary, to defeat our adversaries wherever they may be.
Our primary role is to integrate air power and those

(03:30):
joint capabilities and effects into the ground and you know,
maritime into the maneuver for the conventional land and air
component forces. Right, so we're there to help make sure
airpower works with the land to basically bring the full
power of the military to bear on our enemy.

Speaker 2 (03:47):
We're also working diligently to optimize your forces for what
you refer to as a great power competition, modernizing your
capabilities and honing core combat skills.

Speaker 3 (03:57):
One of those combat skills obviously is our attack qualification,
which is kind of the bread and butter of what
we do, and that jaytax sends for Joint Terminal Attack Controller,
which is what many people have probably seen in the movies,
which is calling in an air stripe. Obviously, you have
to be a communicator to do that. That's really a
core skill for what we do. In the future. We're
really moving and making great strides and developing and implementing

(04:18):
technology that matters like using small and men aerial systems,
using and leveraging artificial intelligence and edge computing to distribute
and disperse our digital networks. To do that, you have
to be really smart, and we need smart, motivated men
and women that can use that equipment in creative ways
to solve big problems. Of course, that requires a special

(04:39):
kind of them, and the training is really challenging, and
it's both physically and mentally difficult. The reward and sensive
pride you get from this elite community is absolutely unmatched,
and that's really been a huge part of what's kept
me around for twenty six years.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
And so one thing that we'd like to touch on each
and every week on the show. We are still in
the fights.

Speaker 3 (04:58):
That's right. There's more than thirteen hundred four head soldiers
and airman currently deployed around.

Speaker 2 (05:03):
The world the US border, also in Europe, South Korea,
South America, Africa, and the Middle East.

Speaker 3 (05:10):
So please keep all our soldiers who are deployed, as
well as their families and your thoughts and prayers.

Speaker 2 (05:14):
We've been joined this morning by Chief Master Sergeant William Pickett,
third Air Support Operations Group at Fort Hood. Sir, we
thank you for your time this morning.

Speaker 3 (05:22):
As always, thanks Wayne, appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (05:24):
Thank you for supporting our military. To get even more
and here this week's full report. Go to our website
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