AFCENT deputy commander visits deployed Airmen

Maj. Gen. William L. Holland speaks with members from the 386th Expeditionary Operations Group April 2 at a Southwest Asian air base. General Holland is the 9th Air Force vice commander and the deputy commander of U.S. Air Forces Central from Shaw Air Force Base, S.C. He visited the area of responsibility to thank the Airmen for what they do and to take back any inputs on how to better train and equip the Airmen supporting operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Patrick Dixon)

AFCENT deputy commander visits deployed Airmen

Maj. Gen. William L. Holland shakes hands with Senior Airman Andrew Baker April 2 at a Southwest Asian air base. General Holland is the 9th Air Force vice commander and the deputy commander of U.S. Air Forces Central from Shaw Air Force Base, S.C. He visited the area of responsibility to thank the Airmen for what they do and to take back any inputs on how to better train and equip the Airmen supporting operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Airman Baker is a member of the 386th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron deployed from Dover Air Force Base, Del. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Patrick Dixon)

AFCENT deputy commander visits deployed Airmen

Maj. Gen. William L. Holland speaks with members from the 386th Expeditionary Maintenance Group April 2 at a Southwest Asian air base. General Holland is the 9th Air Force vice commander and the deputy commander of U.S. Air Forces Central from Shaw Air Force Base, S.C. He visited the area of responsibility to thank the Airmen for what they do and to take back any inputs on how to better train and equip the Airmen supporting operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Patrick Dixon)

Major General Holland visits the Airmen of the 386th

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Major Gen. William Holland, Vice Commander, 9th Air Force, and Deputy Commander, U.S. Central Command Air Forces, Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., listens to a briefing April 2, 2008, during a visit to an air base in the Persian Gulf Region. General Holland visited the area of responsibility to thank the Airmen for what they do and to take back any inputs on how to better train and equip the Airmen supporting Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Air Force photo/ Staff Sgt. Patrick Dixon)

AFCENT deputy commander visits deployed Airmen

Published April 4, 2008
By Tech. Sgt. Michael O'Connor
386th Air Expeditionary Wing public affairs

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- The U.S. Central Command deputy commander, Maj. Gen. William Holland, wrapped up a two-day visit to the Persian Gulf Region April 2 with a visit to the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing.

During General Holland's visit he met and talked with various Airmen from those who fly to those who maintain the aircraft, to those who transport cargo and passengers to those who process and account for them in the deployed area of responsibility.

"We're all warriors in the Global War on Terrorism and we're all making a difference. I think our Airmen see that as I see the gleam in their eyes when I talk to them," said General Holland. "From an Air Force standpoint, whether you're in the air or on the ground, or in direct contact with the enemy or providing support from the rear, one day in the AOR with our Airmen takes the whole gamete of the support we bring to the overall fight.

"We are truly in this as a joint force providing capabilities and effects that are having a significant affect on both the Global War on Terrorism and the counter insurgency effort that we have going on both in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa," General Holland said. "It really makes you proud."

Every day in the AOR is 700 pallets of cargo and 3,500 passengers transported on 50-plus C-130 Hercules and C-17 Globemaster III aircrafts.

"The air mobility mission as a whole is really about throughput," said General Holland. "You have to have bases to stage out of, but the re-supply chain if you will of moving people, parts, supplies is really about throughput. I don't think anybody does it any better than the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing. The people out here understand that part of it ... they work around some physical constraints ... and they're out there making improvements ... it just keeps getting better.

"Ninety-eight percent mission effectiveness! You guys have a great reputation of getting the mission done," said General Holland. "Everyone talks about you being the unsung heroes, but you're not. We sing your song all the time and make sure everyone knows the importance of what you do and how well you do it."

One of the amazing things about Airmen today is their ability to adapt and overcome in a joint environment.

The general said the feedback he gets from the sister services about today's Airmen is positive. He said they understand, and they see first-hand, how innovative, how flexible, how smart, and how hardworking Airmen are and they want more of them.

"The biggest thing I get out spending time with Airmen is I get really charged up by coming out here and seeing them face to face and seeing what kind of wonderful things they're doing and hearing them tell their stories and asking them what they need," said General Holland. "I tell them time and time again ... to let their senior leadership know what they need ... to constantly be improving, but that we owe it to them to give them what they need to do that."

The general said some of the things he tries to impress upon Airmen are to understand and embrace the mission first and foremost, to take care of themselves in the harsh summer environment, and then to take care of each other.

"Every time I come out to the AOR, the things that stand out during each of my trips are the constant improvements being made to the life support elements and the programs that go along with those that keep Airmen smiling," said General Holland.

"It really makes me feel good to know they are taking great pride in what they are doing," said General Holland. "We, as an Air Force, are in good hands when we have great young Airmen doing the kind of things that they're doing."