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CFACC: It's easy to take airpower, Airmen for granted

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Adriane Craig
  • 376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
MANAS AIR BASE, Kyrgyzstan --  The ease with which the U.S. Air Force moves people, pallets and equipment and employs precision airpower also makes it easy to take that synchronized effort for granted.

That was the message of Lt. Gen. Gary North, the Combined Forces Air Component Commander for U.S. Central Command, as he addressed Airmen here May 21 during an AOR tour. It was his tenth visit to Manas AB.

Throughout his 27 months of command he's seen Airmen come together from a lot of places - Guard, Reserve, and active-duty bases - and with different experience sets. Each rotation, he said, they meld together quickly and immediately start producing.

"And it is a product. The product is combat capacity; the product is combat efficiency," he said. "And we must be effective about how we conduct operations because lives depend upon it."

Flightline operations - and all missions enabling those flightline operations, he said, are "absolutely" mission-essential.

On the ground in Afghanistan, U.S. and coalition forces are in harm's way. "We don't have room in combat for mistakes."

Fortunately, today's Airmen are up to the task, as signified by the Air Force milestone reached last month--the millionth sortie in the Global War on Terror.

"On that day, 277 sorties were flown, 3,340 people were moved, 2.9 million pounds of gas was offloaded and 486 short tons of cargo delivered."

It was, he said, a typical day for the Air Force--across the fleet, across the globe--once every 90 seconds, an aircraft is lifting off in defense of freedom.

It happens because of the service Airmen provide day in and day out, in demanding conditions, typifying the Air Force core value of Service Before Self.

"We do provide a service. Sometimes that service is a 5,000 pound bomb; sometimes a 2,000 pound bomb. Sometimes it is the ability to stare at someone for days or weeks to ensure we have identified the right target."

The wing at Manas Air Base has an impact on that service, he said, in its role as the mobility hub supporting ongoing operations in Afghanistan

"You are the gateway to Afghanistan - moving people or equipment and fuel through your tankers, you provide that service."

Sometimes it's hard to know just how much that service means, the general said, but the reality is Manas Airmen touch the lives of everyone coming into and out of Afghanistan.

"We just sent an American home--a fallen warrior. He'd been in Afghanistan just three weeks so the last place he saw peace was right here. One of you may have been able to touch him, to embolden him to do his mission."

The general acknowledged that each one of the lives lost is traumatic. "It is the price of our service--but it is that important."

That service - and sacrifice - is what Airmen should remember.

"It's in our core values, it's in our Creed--it's who we are," General North said. "When you wake up in the morning, and when you put your uniform on and look in the mirror - what you should see is an American Airman."

General North said today Airmen are doing our mission better than ever before.

"Don't take what that means for granted and don't take each other for granted. Thank each other," he said, "And back at home, make sure people know what you do every day is important.

"People don't always understand fully," he continued. "They may not know where Kyrgyzstan is. They don't know that we've been here since shortly after the attacks of 9-11, but they do know they are protected."

Airmen should help them understand how, and why - so it isn't taken for granted.

"Each one of you is our best advocate for who we are and what we do," he said.