David J. Campanale

David J. Campanale
11th Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force (1994-1997)
Born	October 7, 1952 (1952-10-07) (age 59) Worcester, Massachusetts
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Air Force
Years of service	1970–1997
Rank	Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force
Battles/wars	Vietnam War
Awards	Distinguished Service Medal Legion of Merit Meritorious Service Medal (3) Air Force Commendation Medal Air Force Achievement Medal(2)

Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force David J. Campanale (born October 7, 1952) was the eleventh person appointed to the highest noncommissioned officer position in the United States Air Force.

Chief Campanale was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. He graduated from North High School and entered the Air Force in October 1970. He completed technical training as an aircraft maintenance specialist at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas. In February 1971, he was assigned as a B-52 Stratofortress crew chief in the 2nd Organization Maintenance Squadron, Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. While there, he completed three successive tours at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, in support of B-52 Operation Arc Light missions in Southeast Asia. His career includes tours at bases in Indiana, Hawaii, New Hampshire, and Nebraska. He served as Senior Enlisted Advisor to the 93rd Bomb Wing, Castle Air Force Base, California; and Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.

CMSAF Campanale served as the Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force from October 1994 to November 1996. He retired from active duty effective January 1, 1997. He now resides in southern Arizona, and frequently speaks at USAF gatherings.

His most notable contributions during his time on active duty in the CMSAF slot include a major push for single dorm occupancy (which led to the current dorm single occupancy policy,) and a reduction of DUI incidents at Castle AFB in 1 year from over 190, to less than 5.

Chief Campanale also fought a USAF uniform change, which removed name tapes and rank insignia from the battle dress uniform. The USAF swapped for a short time to a single black label worn over the left breast pocket which contained text including the rank, name, and position of the invidiual. Disagreeing with this change, Chief Campanale said, "To prove my point, I had the secretary of a 3-star General remove the stars (rank insignia) from the Generals' BDU collar, then affixed the black label over his nametape as would be worn by everyone else. I then challenged that if he were to walk with me around the base, nobody would salute or render courtesies, since they couldn't read it. He accepted my challenge, and after about an hour of walking, someone finally recognized the General and said, "Hey.. aren't you General so and so?"" Within a few weeks, the black patch was being phased out, and the rank insignia/name tapes were on the way back in.

Assignments

• October 1970 - December 1970, Basic Military Training, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas
• December 1970 - February 1971, student, technical training, Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas
• February 1971 - April 1974, B-52 Stratofortress crew chief, 2nd Organizational Maintenance Squadron, Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana.
• April 1974 - August 1978, 305th Field Maintenance Squadron, Grissom Air Force Base, Indiana.
• August 1978 - August 1983, C-130 Hercules crew chief; noncommissioned officer in charge, C-130 inspection branch; and maintenance superintendent, 6594th Test Group, Air Force Systems Command, Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii
• August 1983 - August 1986, FB-111A and KC-135 Stratotanker flight chief and line chief, 509th Organizational Maintenance Squadron; and senior maintenance controller for the deputy commander for maintenance, 509th Bomb Wing, Pease Air Force Base, New Hampshire.
• August 1986 - May 1989, FB-111A and B-1B Lancer systems program manager, Headquarters Strategic Air Command, - Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.
• May 1989 - February 1992, senior enlisted adviser, 93rd Bomb Wing, Castle Air Force Base, Calif.
• February 1992 - October 1994, senior enlisted adviser, Military Airlift Command and Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.
• October 1994 - November 1996, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, The Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

Major awards and decorations

• Distinguished Service Medal
• Legion of Merit
• Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters
• Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters
• Air Force Achievement Medal with oak leaf cluster
• Vietnam Service Medal
• Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm
• Vietnam Campaign Medal

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Government document "http://www.af.mil/bios/bio.asp?bioID=4898".

Succession

	Biography portal
	United States Air Force portal

Military offices
Preceded by Gary R. Pfingston	Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force 1994–1996	Succeeded by Eric W. Benken

Persondata
Name	Campanale, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	October 7, 1952
Place of birth	Worcester, Massachusetts
Date of death
Place of death