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726th AMS says ‘nevermore’ to business as usual

  • Published
  • By Maj. Christopher Bowyer-Meeder
  • U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center Public Affairs

The 726th Air Mobility Squadron, also known as “The Ravens”, hosted Maj. Gen. John Klein, U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center commander, and Chief Master Sgt. Courtney Freeman, USAFEC command chief, here, Feb. 23, 2023, as part of an immersion with several units under the 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing.

During the visit, The Ravens showed the USAFEC leadership team some of the innovative ways they’ve been actively aligning under both the Air Mobility Command strategy, and the USAFEC strategy

“Here at this Air Mobility Squadron we have aircraft maintainers, air transportation and also communication technicians,” explained Master Sgt. Chauncey Cruz, 726th Air Mobility Squadron production superintendent. “We cross-utilize train all of those three different sections and they’re able to do basic tasks to help each other out.”

Standing in front of an off-the-shelf package including a tent, solar panels and generator, Cruz went on to highlight expeditionary capabilities they’ve incorporated into their unit capabilities.

“We take a very small footprint here, which can either fit on one pallet position, or in the back of a truck or a van, and do what we do here, but somewhere else,” said Cruz. “With that solar panel, we are completely disconnected from the infrastructure. With that battery fully charged, we can run all of our equipment for seven days.”

The initiative the team displayed was noticed by the USAFEC commander.

“As we work to align the Air Mobility Team structure alongside the Contingency Response Team structure, this is the kind of forward thinking we’ll need to see from force packages,” explained Klein. “The willingness to identify a need and move out on a solution shows me this team already has the warrior ethos we’ll need both now and in the future.”

The command chief echoed the sentiments of the commander.

“I’m encouraged to see you guys are not waiting for a step-by-step guide on how to begin doing this,” Freeman said during an all-call with the Airmen. “We need Airmen that are willing to jump in and get the job done, and you all have shown you can do just that.”