KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- The director of the Combined Air and Space Operations Center arrived on Kandahar Airfield to meet with key leaders and thank Airmen for their dedication here Oct. 21.
Brigadier General Mark Graper visited to show his appreciation for the scope and scale of the mission and the large, strategic airfield located in a very complex battle space.
"There are lots of moving parts set in a NATO, ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) context," he said. "The most fun was meeting with the Airmen who are doing the mission everyday."
General Graper is responsible for the CAOC, which develops the strategy behind the air efforts in support of the Joint Force Commander's campaign plan. The CAOC makes day-to-day plans and then executes those plans for warfare assets, such as kinetic efforts, fighters, bombers, tankers and surveillance reconnaissance.
"We choreograph or build each day's air war and then execute it," he said. "When that's done, we assess it to hopefully do a better job the next time around."
The general said the number one message he wanted to get across to Airmen on Kandahar is that they are doing a great job in spite of all the challenges they face. He acknowledges these harsh operating environments, including the high temperatures and dust, which make the maintenance of equipment a lot more difficult. Another challenge includes being at the long end of a tough supply chain.
"For every country that has fought a war in Afghanistan since Alexander the Great, this has been a tough place for supply and logistics, and still is today," he said. "But we have tools in our tool kit that Alexander did not have. We have C-17s, C-130s and so forth, yet it's still tough logistically and supply chain-wise."
And although it may also be challenging to operate in the NATO/ISAF context, the general wanted to remind Airmen to be cooperative and remember to meet in the middle or be good followers if need be.
"We're part of a coalition, and we need to be cooperative partners in that coalition," he said.
The tough living conditions did not go unnoticed as well. Even with tents housing many people, latrines that aren't quite as they are back home, and a very small base exchange, Airmen still somehow keep their motivations high each day. The general asks that they all hang in there with strength, patience and perseverance.
"This is a tough war," he said. "It's not going to be over in a matter of days or weeks. It's going to be measured in years as Gen. (Stanley) McChrystal (U.S. Forces Afghanistan commander) has told us all. But good things are happening in terms of helping the Afghans build their own air corps, in terms of expanding the capacity of Kandahar, helping Afghan civilians, adopting orphanages and things of that nature.
"While it's not easy to measure or assess how we're doing in this war, there are a number of contributions the Airmen of Kandahar are making and I'm very proud of them. I'm very thankful. So, I say great job and please hang in there. We have to demonstrate to ourselves and our public that we're not in for the short run but for the long run."
General Graper described the 451st AEW as a great wing, and although there are growing pains in that it's a relatively new wing, he encourages all to be a part of the solution.