GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. -- The Heartland Warriors here at the Hoosier Wing have a new Inspector General to look to for guidance on complaints, policy and inspections. Col. Sylvia Fernandez recently stepped into the role of the 434th Air Refueling Wing’s Inspector General.
Fernandez comes to Grissom with 37 years of military experience, first serving as an enlisted Airman and achieving the rank of Master Sergeant and later commissioning as a medical service corps officer, with some logistics officer experience on top of that.
Fernandez said that the most important part of her job as IG is to be here for the Airmen.
“In any areas that they feel they have a need to be heard, that is my primary role,” said Fernandez. “To ensure that they are heard and that I do the best that I can to be able to do the investigation, the analysis and the closure for any of their concerns”
Fernandez comes to the position of IG with four key objectives: resolving Airmen’s issues through the critical response process, educating and training airmen and leadership on rights and responsibilities regarding Air Force IG, advising commanders on trends that impact the mission, and being visible to airmen in their workspace to emphasize IG access.
“The way that we’re built here with family readiness, it is a plethora of talent and experience to help us resolve and mitigate those issues,” said Fernandez.
Fernandez says she believes one of the reasons she was selected for the role is because of her enlisted background.
“I have gone up the chain from a two striper to a Master Sergeant and 37 years with a pretty well diverse portfolio,” said Fernandez. “I believe that those are the things that I have in my toolkit to align with the Airmen and ensure that we are ready to, not only be effective Airmen, but most importantly to be able to successfully hit that mission operation.
Fernandez stated she is most looking forward to getting out and about and meeting the Airmen at the 434th ARW.
“That is the fuel to my soul, the more Airmen that I’m able to connect with,” said Fernandez. “I see them as the next generation. So, any opportunity that they allow me to converse, to mentor, to educate, that is definitely helping me to validate that I’m doing my part of service to ensure that they are ready for the next decade.”
Col. Sylvia Fernandez, 434th Wing Inspector General can be reached at:
Office: 765-688-2270
Cell: (210) 87-5255