JoAnne Bass, the 19th Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force and the first woman to serve as the U.S. Air Force’s highest-ranking enlisted leader, never planned on making the military a career. She joined for the GI Bill, expected to serve four years, and jokes that she reenlisted because she still had a Honda Civic to pay for.

Thirty-one years later, she retired after reaching the highest enlisted position in the United States Air Force.

In this episode of Not Special, JoAnne Bass sits down with Herb and Corrie Thompson for a candid conversation about her unlikely journey from a young Airman to Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, leadership at the highest levels, marriage and family, military service, social media and misinformation, and what happens when the title you've carried for decades suddenly disappears.

Bass shares the story of getting the call that she had been selected as the 19th Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, becoming the first woman to hold the position, and suddenly finding herself at the center of national attention.

She also opens up about the side of leadership most people never see: criticism, online attacks, the pressure of leading during a rapidly changing information environment, and why leaders can no longer confuse the chain of command with the chain of communication.

But this conversation isn't just about rank or military leadership.

JoAnne talks about growing up as an Army brat, meeting her Army husband Ron at Smoke Bomb Hill, raising two daughters while both parents served demanding military careers, navigating deployments, and learning how to intentionally reconnect after retirement.

She also explains why some people struggle when they leave the military or any major career and their identity has become inseparable from their title.

Throughout the conversation, JoAnne returns to a simple philosophy she learned from her mother: Do your job and do it well.

From a four-year enlistment to 31 years of service, JoAnne Bass's story is ultimately about service, leadership, family, resilience, identity, and using whatever position you have to make a difference.

In this episode:

• Why JoAnne Bass originally joined the U.S. Air Force

• The Honda Civic that helped convince her to reenlist

• When military service became something bigger than a GI Bill

• Becoming the 19th Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force

• What it meant to become the first woman in the position

• Leading through COVID and an evolving information environment

• Social media, misinformation, trolls, and deepfakes

• Why leaders need to rethink communication

• Leading five generations in today's workforce

• Marriage, children, deployments, and dual-military life

• Why retirement and identity can be such a difficult transition

• Finding purpose after taking off the uniform

• The leadership philosophy JoAnne still carries today