Keesler command removes chief from leadership role
The command chief of the 81st Training Wing at Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi was removed from his leadership role last week following an internal investigation into the senior noncommissioned officer, according to the Air Force.
“Col. Billy Pope, 81st Training Wing commander, removed Chief Master Sgt. Michael Venning from his position as the 81st Training Wing command chief at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, September 23, 2024, following a command directed investigation,” a spokesperson with the base confirmed to WXXV.
“Col. Pope temporarily reassigned Chief Master Sgt. Venning on July 30 to allow for a command directed investigation to take place. Col. Pope determined the findings of the investigation warranted the removal of Chief Master Sgt. Venning from his position.”
A base spokesperson told Military.com, “There are no charges filed in this case” and added that a service member’s administrative disciplinary history can’t be released and is protected under the Privacy Act of 1974.
Venning entered the Air Force in 2000, according to his biography posted online. He had been in his role at Keesler since July 2023.
In his role, Venning advised “commanders and staff on mission effectiveness, professional development, military readiness, training, utilization, health, morale and welfare of the wing’s 12,000 military and civilian airmen,” according to his biography.
Prior to that assignment, he was the command chief of the 100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall in the United Kingdom and also served as the superintendent of the 422nd Air Base Group at RAF Croughton.
Venning could not be reached and did not respond to phone calls and text messages left at numbers associated with him in public records, according to Military.com
A command-directed investigation is an administrative probe and is described as “an extension of the commander’s authority to investigate and to correct problems within the command,” according to the Department of the Air Force manual.
