Following Protocol: Planning with Conviction

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Taylor Hunter
  • 2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. --  If you've ever attended or had to pull together an event on Barksdale, you may have had an encounter with Janice Jones, 2nd Bomb Wing chief of protocol, or her team. She can be easily spotted with hands on her hips guiding people on where to stand, take their place in line or explaining why their idea isn't going to work out or isn't allowed. Yet, what does she do and how did she get here?

Well, after serving 24 years, five months and four days Jones decided to retire from the Air Force as a Master Sergeant. She spent her whole career as an admin troop with the last 10 years specifically in protocol operations.

About two months into retirement, she realized “the leisure life was not me” Jones said. So, she started to fill out applications and was selected for a position at Barksdale. She had been living in San Antonio at the time and was excited to be a little closer to her family, who lived in Alabama.

“The protocol mission works hand-in-hand with the mission of the organization,” Jones said. “We work on keeping leadership where needed for official and social events.We ensure visits, social events, award ceremonies and sometimes spur-of-the-moment events are organized, coordinated, arranged and executed in a first class manner. We work to execute the official and morale side of the mission.”

Jones' personality helps her do her job well. She describes herself as an extreme organizer which is needed in a job that is about details. One thing her friends would all agree upon is that the woman is passionate and speaks her mind.

“Passionate ,strong-willed , no-nonsense ,uncompromising. A leader who knows the way,goes the way and shows the way. That is what makes Janice the backbone of our team”, said Master Sgt Kathy Ackley,2nd Bomb Wing Protocol specialist.

“I am the ride or die type friend and a friend for life,” Jones said. “I am hard but fair. Strangely enough, my coworkers, I believe, like working with me.” Jones says being in this field has taught her many lessons. These lessons would include,to smile in the face of unkindness, honing organizational and time management skills, most of all the value of good order and discipline.

She credits her late mother, Daisy Jones, as her role model.

"My mom only had a 7th grade education, but she was and is still is the wisest person I know," Jones said. "She would always tell me anything in your life can be taken away from you but as for education, it’s yours for life and no one can take that away. She raised me to respect all people, never looking down on anyone. You never know anyone else's story , she gave me life long the advice that I use to this day.”

Earning her master’s degree and having completed a successful career in the Air Force have been amongst a few of her greatest accomplishments. Anyone who has met Jones would say she is committed and dedicated to being chief of protocol for the 2nd Bomb Wing.