Tanks a lot!

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Col. Cameron Torrens, 386th Air Expedtionary Wing commander, takes a tour of an Australian Light Armored Vehicle at Force Support Unit 1's camp, Billabong Flats, at the Army Life Support Area Feb. 27. Australian Lt. Col. Ed Smeaton hosted the wing commander to thank him for 386th AEW Airmen's contributions to Victoria bushfire relief. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Courtney Richardson)

Tuskegee Airmen address 386th AEW members

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Col. Cameron Torrens presents retired Lt. General Russell Davis, president of the national chapter of Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., a 386th Air Expeditionary Wing patch to show his appreciation of their hard work and for visiting the Airmen of the 386th. Each group commander presented one of the four visiting Tuskegee Airmen with a patch during a mission briefing. (U.S. Air Force photo/ Senior Airman Courtney Richardson)

Building bridges

Camp Bucca, Iraq -- Col. Cameron Torrens, 386th Air Expeditionary Wing commander, tries to get the attention of a young Iraqi baby while her family waits to visit a detainee at the Theater Internment Facility (TIF) at Camp Bucca, Iraq, on Sept. 29. The 887th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron controls access to detainees at the TIF and processes visitation procedures for family members. The Air Force works side by side with Army Soldiers in manning the facility, which houses more than 18,000 detainees. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Raheem Moore)

Ceremony inspires members to never forget Sept. 11

Col. Cameron Torrens gives a speech on the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and the way they changed the military mindset during the Sept. 11 Remembrance Ceremony Sept. 11 at an air base in Southwest Asia. The ceremony included a wreath-laying ceremony, a 21-gun salute and the playing of "Taps" to honor the memory of those that perished and survived the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Colonel Torrens is the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing commander. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Raheem Moore)

386th AEW commander says goodbye to his Airmen

Published June 30, 2009
By Staff Sgt. Thomas J. Doscher
386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Col. Cameron Torrens, outgoing 386th Air Expeditionary Wing commander, has a lot of work ahead of him to prepare for his next job, including learning Chinese in 18 months, but while he is excited by his new job as the Air Force's air attaché in Beijing, it's the past year he's spent as the Marauders' wing commander that is foremost in his thoughts.

Looking back on the past 12 months, Colonel Torrens said the Airmen of the 386th impressed him from the moment he got off the plane and have done nothing but impress him more since then.

"I'm more impressed now then when I arrived," he said of his Airmen. "I'm on my fourth Air Expeditionary Force rotation since we arrived here. When I was doing this business back in 2002 and 2003, I thought our Air Force would have a hard time keeping up with this high operations tempo, but here I am in 2009, and it seems like the Airmen who get off the plane keep getting younger and younger and more excited about serving their country. It's a real honor to serve with them."

Taking care of those Airmen was one of Colonel Torrens' top priorities after accomplishing the mission, and finding new ways to care for those Airmen and increase morale was a hallmark of this command here.

"My priorities here in order were the relationship with the host nation, getting the mission done, taking care of our people and communicating," he said. "The chief and I were always very cautious about letting those initiatives take priority over the mission. The mission comes first, and we concentrated on giving people the equipment, resources and time they needed to do their jobs. We figured that was the best way to take care of our people."

Going from wing commander to attaché in China may seem like a huge leap, but Colonel Torrens said the lessons he learned as the 386th commander will serve him well in Beijing.

"One obvious lesson for me is that you can get more business done over several cups of tea than you can sitting around an office talking to somebody," he said. "Relationships are important."

A native of Montesano, Wash., Colonel Torrens said the lessons he learned growing up in America's northwest have influenced him throughout his 21-year career and will continue to guide him in his next assignment.

"I went to school with a lot of people who knew the value of hard work and had the attitude that if you work hard, you'll be rewarded, and that's the attitude I pursued my Air Force career with," the Montesano High School graduate noted. "The community I grew up with, those were our core values, and those core values stayed with me and rewarded me throughout the years."

As he prepares to depart "The Rock" for the final time, Colonel Torrens said he wants the Airmen of the 386th to know that they've been chosen.

"They may have had their hand all the way up, or they may not have had their hand up at all," he said. "But the fact is when they arrived here they were chosen. When you're chosen, you want to put your all in, you don't want to just come over here and maintain a pulse. When you come in, you're full in for the mission, full in for setting goals for yourself. Don't dwell on whether you wanted to be here at this time or not. Keep the faith that it's the right thing to do for your country and the right thing to do for our Air Force."

Colonel Torrens will relinquish command of the 386th AEW to Col. John Gordy II July 1.