Q&A: New MSG/CC talks career, goals Published June 14, 2012 By Bryan Magaña 419th Fighter Wing Public Affairs HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah -- Col. Paul Theisen, 419th Mission Support Group commander, was born and raised in sunny Arizona. But thanks to the Air Force he's traveled around the world, from Hawaii to Central America to Southwest Asia, and has worked in a variety of career fields. Married to Terri - an amazing nurse and master chef of Mediterranean cuisine, according to the colonel - and father of three children, Theisen took command in April. He recently sat down with public affairs to talk about his career and some of his goals as commander. Why did you join the Air Force? After high school, I was kind of a punk and didn't have much direction in my life. But my best friend's dad was a chief master sergeant - he took me in and taught me to work hard. He'd take me camping, hunting, motorcycling, on Air Force trips and drive me up to Luke Air Force Base, and that's where I learned that the Air Force was a good way of life. Later, a friend told me about the ROTC program and encouraged me to join. Because of a very close childhood chief master sergeant mentor, I have a special place in my heart for the enlisted force and I know where the job gets done. Tell me about your Air Force career. I started my career as a student pilot but due to an injury and resulting surgery I couldn't complete pilot training. I then become a logistics readiness officer in charge of deployment operations. Literally 48 hours after returning from tech school I deployed to Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. After that I worked with different agencies doing counterdrug work at Davis-Monthan AFB, deploying to South America and Central America. From there I went to PACAF and because of my deployment background I performed contingency war planning for PACAF and PACOM all around the pacific. That was really cool work, and something that I really enjoyed. What are some of your goals as the new MSG/CC? I want our Airmen to be ready to support the warfighter. I need to secure the resources they need to meet strategic objectives. I want to make sure there's a focused effort to train mission-ready Airmen while complying with Air Force guidance - and it's my job to provide the resources to make that happen. I'm also big on fitness. I'm not just saying it, I'm out there doing it. Fitness is part of our Air Force culture, but it's also part of our lives. We need to make time for it, for our physical and mental well-being. As new commander, what do you bring to the table? I have a breadth of experience, almost 16 years of active duty time and 7 years as a reservist. I have managed deployments from a squadron and wing level. I have two personal AEF deployments under my belt and I've supported multiple active duty steady state operations, so I know what it means to be ready to deploy. I bring understanding of the TFI mission and the needs to meet it. I also have a fairly humble beginning and I feel it gives me perspective. Additionally, I bring high expectations of our Airmen to be responsible and accountable to the mission and our success. What's one thing you want to tell every Airman? I want each Airman to be proactive, informed and engaged (easy as PIE, if you will). Every one of us, from Airman to general, has a stake in making the Air Force a better operation. Airmen should look for better ways to do things, make suggestions, and talk to their supervisors. I'm open to ideas and ready to listen. Let's make it so!