Background
The Chief was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force
The Chief was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
In 1948 he obtained his high school equivalency certificate, and later completed 62 semester hours of study at McKendree College, Lebanon, Illinois.
He was the first Chief Master Sergeant appointed to this ultimate noncommissioned officer position and was selected from among 21 major command (MAJCOM) nominees to become the first Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force. He was formally installed by General McConnell on 3 April 1967. He entered military service in 1940 after two years of high school in Quincy, Massachusetts.
His military schooling included courses in communication mechanics and personnel management.
He is a graduate of the Air Defense Command Noncommissioned Officer Academy. The academy was renamed the Paul West. Airey NCO Academy on December 13, 2006, in his honor.
Chief Airey joined the Army Air Forces in 1940. During World World War II he was an aerial gunner on B-24 Liberator bombers and is credited with 28 combat missions in Europe.
He was forced to bail out of his flak-damaged aircraft over Austria in July 1944, and ended up in a German prisoner of war camp near the Baltic Sea.
Later, he and 6,000 fellow Prisoner Of War"s were forced to march 400 miles to another camp near Berlin. He was liberated in May 1945. Chief Airey reenlisted in the Air Force after completing a recuperation leave.
He went to Naha Air Base, Okinawa, where he was responsible for radio repair.
Chief Airey spent 14 of his 30-year career as a First Sergeant. Before he became Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, he was assigned to the Air Defense Command"s 4756th Civil Engineering Squadron at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, where he was the unit"s First Sergeant.
He retired August 1, 1970. Chief Airey died in Panama City, Florida. on March 11, 2009.
Professional memberships and associations.