MACDILL AFB, TAMPA — For two months now, Chief Master Sergeant Shae Gee has been serving as the Command Chief for the 6th Air Refueling Wing at MacDill AFB.

She sat down with us to talk about resiliency, life, and women in the United States Air Force.

“I think it’s important to get out there and spend time with the airmen and not just watch them turn wrenches, but turn the wrenches with them and see what they do day in and day out. It’s amazing what they do,” said CM Sgt Shae Gee.

In her 27 year career, she’s worn a lot of hats, from food service to military training instructor, medical group superintendent, a command chief, and a few others in-between.

We asked her if she ever thought she’d be here when she started her career.

“Absolutely not! I did four years my first enlistment, I was going to come in, do four years, and get out. I actually came in to get away from an abusive relationship,” she said.

It was at this point in the interview when it became clear that there was something deeper behind her stripes.

“When I was an Airman, about a year and a half in, that same husband held me at gunpoint with an AK-47 for a few days,” she said.

Chief Gee is a survivor and says her leadership and female mentors guided her to safety.

She believes her background plays a role in her resiliency and how she shares that with younger service-members.

"Sometimes when you have brand new Airmen that come in, they see you as a Command Chief, they think you’ve had that on your entire life,” said Chief Gee.

She doesn’t mind sharing her story because she says it could help someone else.

“I think it’s important they realize they’re not on an island by themselves,” she added.

The notion of understanding, compassion, and inclusion is something she’s carried with her.

Throughout the years in her career, she remarried. 

While she and her husband were both serving in the military, they raised two boys through plenty of deployments.

“Sometimes it’s not the amount of time that you get, it’s the quality of time,” said Chief Gee.

The boys are in their 20s and she and her husband are empty-nesters, but that doesn’t mean she’s stopped pushing for change when it comes to family life.

“We’re kind of changing in the fact that some of our spouses are male or we have same-gender spouses so we really have to get out there taking care of both sides of it now,” she said.

When it comes to women in the military, there’s no denying that change is here.

Chief Gee mentioned a lot of new additions like female body armor, new regulations for hairstyles, and women in combat.

“I think for any woman in any leadership position, you just have to make sure you have a seat at the table,” she said.