This manuscript offers a vivid, candid and highly personal account of military life by four of the first five Chief Master Sergeants of the Air Force. Their recollections were captured in an interview at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C. and cover a period of over thirty years - from the early 1940's to the late 1970's. The position of chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force (held by only 10 individuals since its establishment in 1966) has given all enlisted service members a representative who has direct access to, and the ability to advise, the Chief of Staff and the Secretary of the Air Force. It has also imparted to each of the interviewees broad and insightful perspectives of the issues discussed.