AFCENT commander shares focus areas with 380th AEW

Published Sept. 30, 2011
By Capt. Gina Vaccaro McKeen
380th Expeditionary Air Wing Public Affairs

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Lt. Gen. David Goldfein, the commander of U.S. Air Forces Central Command, shared his focus areas with the Airmen of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing and its mission partners during a visit Sept. 27.

This was Goldfein's first visit to the air base in Southwest Asia since becoming the AFCENT commander.

The general toured the base and met with the Airmen, Soldiers and Sailors here to share his vision for the command as well as to get feedback.

"This job is the honor and privilege of my career and my life," Goldfein said at an all-call event with the deployed personnel at the wing. "I could not be more proud and honored to serve with you and for you as your commander. I wear these stars for you."

During the all-call, the general shared his focus areas for the command and talked to the deployed men and women about how they fit into achieving the mission. These four areas, he explained, are responsive and proactive airpower; defending this region and defending this base; engagement; and preparation.

"Sometimes we make the impossible look easy," he said of the Air Force's ability to respond with airpower when needed. "[We have] a moral obligation, quite frankly, to race to the sound of the guns to provide over watch and top cover for our fellow Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines, and to be there as long as they need in order to get back safely."

He lauded the members of the 380th AEW and its mission partners for the work they do each day to contribute to that responsiveness, and explained that every person at this wing must act as a guardian.

"The defense of this region is central to what we do at this base," Goldfein said. "In this region, every Airman's a defender, every Airman is a first responder and every one of us is a sentinel."

Regarding his third focus area, we must constantly be aware of our surroundings and never drop our guard, he said. He called for all Airmen, Soldiers and Sailors here to remain focused not only on defense, but also on engagement.

"Engagement is all about building trust, confidence and long-term relationships in this region that we can use not only now, but also in the future, as we operate at this base and other bases in the region," he said.

He called each person at this deployed wing to be part of the engagement team, to establish relationships across military services and with host nation partners.

Finally, General Goldfein called each of the service members here to be prepared for whatever may be next.

"The one constant here is change. So, we have to be agile enough as the air component to be able to continue to be responsive, to continue to be proactive, and also, to make sure that we're prepared to be able to shift our behavior as required," Goldfein said.

He stressed the importance of preparing, training and thinking about what we can do now to prepare for whatever could happen in the future.

He concluded his visit to the base by answering questions from the field and thanking his people for serving.

"We're going to talk about this time for the rest of our lives, and it will be a high point," Goldfein said. "It will be a time when we made relationships and friendships that lasted forever.

"And, even though there are frustrations we live with...I'm here to tell you, all of those will fade away, and what you and I will talk about is when we were able to make a difference in this world, when we were able to make the world a better place for our kids and for our grandkids.

It is the opportunity of my lifetime to stand here as your AFCENT commander. What you are doing here is very important and it's an honor to serve with you. Thank you very much."

380AEW Article