COMMENTARY>>Airmen’s teamwork generates Combat Airlift

by Col. Gregory S. Otey
19th Airlift Wing commander

In February, I had the opportunity to experience the teamwork that goes into mobilizing Combat Airlifters for the fight when I flew a C-130J from Little Rock to Kandahar, Afghanistan, and back as part of a required iron swap.

While the crew from the 41st Airlift Squadron I flew with was exceptional, so were all the other Airmen who helped generate us and the aircraft we flew to safely accomplish this mission. It takes all of us to generate Combat Airlift. If you don’t believe it, let me lay it out for you.

Our maintenance Airmen are the best in the Air Force – they prove it every day and have an Air Force level award to back it up.

They gave us a combat-ready aircraft that was second to none. From the medics who cleared us to fly all the way, down to the last drop of fuel that filled the aircraft, the 19th Airlift Wing and its Airmen are expertly focused on generating Combat Airlift.

I saw it in the faces of those I encountered as I out-processed the base for my deployment. Granted, I was only gone for a couple of weeks compared to 120 days or a year, but the process is still the same. I experienced some of the same “meat grinder” (OK, for the Wing CC it’s really not a meat grinder) requirements that everyone else has to face as they leave the base for deployments.

To each of you who had a hand in getting me and the crew over there and back, a hearty well done. Your professionalism and technical skill didn’t go unnoticed. I know you’re giving every other Combat Airlifter that same level of competence and professionalism that I received.

It’s not often a wing commander has the opportunity to experience a trip like I did to Kandahar. Having grown up in the C-130 community, I’ve had many opportunities to deploy and employ the C-130. To be honest, I miss being able to do that. Aviators love to fly as often as they can. For a two-week stretch, I got to fly more than Ihave in a very long time -- I doubled my hours in the C-130J. It’s good for the soul, but it’s also good to see what our Airmen are experiencing on a daily basis. Hearing about our operations in Kandahar and seeing the challenges our aircrews face is important to me. It’s not easy work flying through the mountains of Afghanistan, but they do it, and they do it very well.

Like every other Airman on base, when I’m off station, someone else has to pick up the slack. To Col. Mike Zick, our trusty vice commander, and everyone else on the staff, thanks for tackling the issues and moving the wing forward in my absence.

That same teamwork I witnessed in February is going to carry us through our Unit Compliance Inspection April 19-27. I know you’ve polished a lot of programs and everything is in inspection order, but if you show the inspectors the teamwork, competence and professionalism I saw in February, we’re going to be just fine when we receive our UCI results on the 27th.

Thanks for all you do every day. Combat Airlift!