Chief Master Sgt. Justin Deisch, the senior enlisted airman at Ellsworth Air Force Base’s 28th Bomb Wing in South Dakota, has been fired for “inappropriate conduct,” the wing said Monday.
Deisch’s behavior “demonstrated a lack of respect, judgment and professionalism expected of a senior noncommissioned officer,” according to an Ellsworth press release.
“Based on the results of a thorough investigation, Chief Deisch’s removal was necessary to uphold these high standards,” wing commander Col. Joseph Sheffield said in the release. “All airmen should be treated with dignity and respect, and senior leaders should set the example for subordinates by exercising sound judgement and decision-making both on and off duty.”
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As the wing’s command chief, Deisch advised Sheffield on the professional and personal well-being of more than 3,000 enlisted airmen at Ellsworth.
The base is one of two installations that hosts the B-1B Lancer, the non-nuclear bomber fleet from the 1980s that is stretched thin after two decades as a workhorse in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The 28th Bomb Wing is the Air Force’s largest B-1 combat wing, with 27 Lancers and 3,700 uniformed and civilian employees.
Deisch arrived at Ellsworth in June 2021 after serving as the 65th Air Base Group superintendent at Lajes Field in Portugal for a year, according to his official biography. He’s also held multiple leadership positions in munitions maintenance, nuclear missile testing and other units since joining the service in 1995.
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In 2015, Deisch received the prestigious Lance P. Sijan leadership award for senior NCOs who show exceptional management and service in their communities. He has attended multiple enlisted leadership courses and is certified as a sexual assault prevention and response victim advocate, a bystander intervention training instructor and a “Green Dot” intervention facilitator.
The Air Force did not provide further details by press time on where Deisch was moved or who is replacing him as command chief.
Rachel Cohen is the editor of Air Force Times. She joined the publication as its senior reporter in March 2021. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Frederick News-Post (Md.), Air and Space Forces Magazine, Inside Defense, Inside Health Policy and elsewhere.
