1 April 2003
USAFE commander, CCM visit deployed troops
By Maj. Scott Vadnais
USAFE News Service

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (USAFENS) – The United States Air Forces in Europe command plays a key role in Operation Iraqi Freedom, said Gen. Gregory S. Martin, USAFE commander, to airmen deployed within USAFE in support of OIF.

Martin spoke to the airmen while touring Aviano Air Base, Italy; Incirlik Air Base, Turkey and six other forward operating locations March 28-30, using the visits to learn about the challenges and successes at each of the bases, which hosts deployed Air Force people from all over the world.

At every stop, Martin, and Chief Master Sgt. Vickie Mauldin, USAFE command chief master sergeant, who traveled with the commander, talked of the vital role deployed airmen are playing in Operation Iraqi Freedom and the Global War on Terrorism.

"Nearly everything Gen. Tommy Franks (U.S. Central Command commander) is using in OIF came through Europe,” Martin said. “And you now play key roles in providing refueling support, command and control and other specialized missions to the OIF commander.”

While at Aviano AB, the general and the USAFE command chief master sergeant visited the U.S. Army in Europe’s 173rd Airborne Brigade soldiers who had just boarded C-17s, preparing to take off and meet up with more than 1,000 other 173rd soldiers who were airdropped into northern Iraq two nights earlier.

A few minutes later, he visited with about 30 Air Mobility Group and 31st Logistics Group and Mission Support Group airmen who had load-planned, and then loaded, the more than one dozen aircraft taking part in that night’s mission. The general thanked them for their efforts in getting the 173rd Airborne Brigade into northern Iraq.

While the troops at each location seemed to understand their vital role in the mission at hand, the thanks and appreciation were much appreciated.

“It’s pretty neat that the commander would come here to tell me thanks for doing my job,” said Tech. Sgt. Russ Scott, an air transporter from the 31st Logistics Group.

After touring the deployed dining hall and billeting facilities at one of the bases, the general and Mauldin visited with about 125 members of Ramstein’s 86th Contingency Response Group, who were preparing to deploy to northern Iraq. Martin charged the group with two tasks.

“First, help our Army brethren who will be working with the Kurds, and Turkomen to bring peace to that country,” Martin said. “And, when you come back, you'll have learned some special skills and lessons; you'll need to come back and train those who will follow.”

The whirlwind tour also took the general and USAFE command chief to two expeditionary bases within our NATO-member countries -- Romania and Bulgaria.

“You are making a difference for America. Not just in OIF, but also in Romania, a new NATO member country,” said Mauldin to a group of airmen. “For many in this country, their perceptions of America will be based on what they see and learn from you.”

Their trip also took them to the Naval Support Agency, Souda Bay, Crete, where more than 40 refueling and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance aircraft are temporarily based after initial plans called for only six tankers, said Col. Al Aimar, 398th Air Expeditionary Group deputy commander, who ‘back home’ is the 163rd Air Refueling Wing commander, March Air Reserve Base, Calif.

The Souda Bay-based aircraft were planned to operate from a variety of other bases, said Col. Marcy Atwood, 398th AEG commander. “But as our basing options narrowed, one logical place to put these similar aircraft was here.”

Logical and also impressive, said the general.

“It was incredible to see what you did,” Martin told Atwood and other 398th AEG leaders and airmen. “What you did to flex and adapt to the many, many changes leaves me in awe.”

This ability to adapt and overcome challenges was seen throughout the base tours. At the 406th Air Expeditionary Wing, with only 350 people assigned, airmen from 25 Air Force bases made up the wing. “This must be some kind of record, the very epitome of expeditionary,” said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Pitchford, 16th Civil Engineer Squadron commander, Hurlburt Field, Fla.

And this expeditionary force structure now, is laying the pavement for helping the Iraqi people set the conditions for a transition to a government that doesn’t threaten its people or its neighbors, said the general.

“We may be in Iraq for some time, to build back a country that has been off track for a long time,” Martin said. “They deserve it, they’re good people, but they have had a lousy leader.”