SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Less than two weeks into his new role as the leader of U.S. Air Forces Central Command, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian visited the men and women of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing at an undisclosed location, August 1.
“The best part about this job is getting back with Airmen and seeing the energy, the motivation, and the disciplined way they go about executing the mission,” said Harrigian.
During the visit, the General addressed existing AFCENT priorities of delivering airpower, defending the region and developing partnerships.
“These priorities are pretty straight forward for the team, from my level all the way down to the youngest Airmen on the flight line, to align themselves with what we’re doing,” said Harrigian. “It’s really been a tremendous opportunity to see how the team pulls together to deliver airpower and decisive effects for the coalition.”
As a newly appointed commander supporting the larger 66 nation coalition working to eradicate violent extremists, Gen. Harrigian discussed how it feels to lead the 20-nation Combined Forces Air Component.
“I’m humbled to have this opportunity,” said Harrigian. “That’s the way I’m trying to approach this, as an opportunity to bring together a team that has tremendous capabilities. Ultimately it’s going to be that team that underpins our ability to deliver mission success.”
In support of U.S. Central Command Operations such as Inherent Resolve and Freedom’s Sentinel, the 380th AEW is comprised of professional Airmen, joint and coalition partners conducting strike; intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance; command and control; and aerial refueling missions from Northeast Africa across the Middle East to Central and South Asia.
The General discussed how these efforts have contributed to the elimination of Da’esh operations and resources.
“The impact is seen across everything the entire team is doing to destroy and degrade the enemy,” said Harrigian. “A significant amount of momentum has occurred where we’ve been able to get after the financing, the communication, command and control, that the enemy has tried to leverage and we’ve taken that away from them. That’s what this coalition team is delivering.”