News

18th Air Force commander visits MAFB

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Laura L. Valentine
  • 22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. --  Team McConnell hosted Lt. Gen. Mark Ramsay, 18th Air Force commander, and Chief Master Sgt. Jeff Williams, 18th Air Force command chief, Feb. 28 and 29, 2012.

Ramsay and Williams visited McConnell, one of the command's 15 wings, to meet with the Wing's leaders and Airmen and observe the mission firsthand.

During an all call for Team McConnell personnel, roughly 80 percent of the nearly 1,000 Airmen in attendance raised their hand when Ramsay asked who joined the Air Force after Sept. 11, 2001.

"You all have been in this Air Force during a period of time when our budget has only been going up," he said. "What you're seeing now is a cycle where we have peaked, in terms of this era of military spending, and real reductions are starting to take place."

The 2013 budget proposal, released in February, outlines Department of Defense plans to reduce its budget by $487 billion in the next 10 years. Along with this proposal, the Air Force has identified 286 aircraft to be eliminated - 123 fighters, 133 mobility aircraft, including 20 KC-135 Stratotankers, and 30 ISR platforms. In addition, plans also call for the force to be reduced by 9,900 - 3,900 active duty, 5,100 Air National Guardsmen, and 900 Air Force Reservists.

In light of the proposed reductions, Ramsay challenged Airmen to find ways to be more efficient at their level.

"This is a time where we need all of you to be innovative, to think about how we can be more efficient and effective," said Ramsay. "You all are the innovators, you are the ones that make this mission happen."

Several McConnell Airmen had opportunities to speak with Ramsay as he observed several of the Wing's innovations.

Airman 1st Class Christopher Lange, 22nd Aerospace Medicine Squadron bioenvironmental engineering technician, talked with Ramsay about his specialty and how it fit into the Wing's overall mission.

"I think it's important for an Airman to brief a general on what the enlisted force does," said Lange. "What we do is important, so sharing it makes me even more excited to continue my education and career."

In addition to learning about the Medical Group's mission, Ramsay visited with Airmen in the Maintenance and Operations groups, where he saw firsthand a key component of McConnell's success - its total force integration with the 931st Air Refueling Group. Overall, Ramsay was impressed with what he saw during the visit.

"I've seen dozens of examples of [innovation] at this base, today," Ramsay said during the all-call. "I've talked to people with a fire in their belly, they understand what it means to serve their nation, they understand what it means to innovate, and they understand what it means to get the mission done better than it's ever been done before."

Ramsay also challenged Airmen to become the best citizens, civil servants and Airmen possible through career and personal development.

"If there is a block on your [career resume], whether it be education, civil or professional military education, technical training, language training - anything that makes you a better professional Airman in this institution - if you haven't done it, then do it," Ramsay said. "You have to be the best Airman you can be."

Ramsay also noted that education and training were critical to Airmen resiliency and the ability to safely achieve mission records such as the 46,000 flying hours McConnell posted in 2011, a record in the KC-135 community.

"Ninety two percent of our air refueling capability is the KC-135," said Ramsay. "McConnell is the last remaining supertanker wing in the world ... so you all are the stewards of an incredible resource. Thank you for what you have done for our military institution as Airmen."