AMC commander visits USAF EC

Published Jan. 10, 2013
By By Tech. Sgt. Zachary Wilson
U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center

JOINT BASE McGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- Gen. Paul Selva, Air Mobility Command commander, made his first official visit to the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. Jan. 9 as part of a multi-day tour of AMC units and installations.

"We were honored to host General Selva during his visit here," said Maj. Gen. Bill Bender, U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center commander. "It is always a great opportunity to show distinguished guests our unique mission and exceptionally talented Airmen."
The first stop for the new commander was the EC's Master Resilience Instructor course, which trains Airmen and civilians from across the Air Force to assist fellow Airmen in their home units to adjust to challenges that require strong emotional, physical and spiritual foundations.

"This course represents the foundational cornerstones of the Comprehensive Airmen Fitness program," Selva told the group.

He added his thoughts on the importance of caring for Airmen at all levels and ensuring all have a work environment that is safe and professional, adding that words like "caring" are not soft words, but actually require hard decisions and often tough enforcement.
"We cannot tolerate sexual harassment. We can't tolerate sexual assault. We can't tolerate discrimination - those all involve 'caring.'"

On the second day of the visit, Selva received briefings, demonstrations and input from many of the EC's various organizations to provide the higher headquarters a picture of the center's many unique capabilities.

The first part of the immersion was with the Mobility Operations School, where Selva was introduced to the Maintenance Production Superintendent Course simulator. He also received briefings from MOS instructors on Aerial Port Expeditor Course, the joint inspection process, Unit Deployment Manager course, Air Mobility Operations Online Course and the Installation Deployment Officer course.

The second part of the visit was with the Expeditionary Operations School where Selva received demonstrations of combative techniques used in several of the Center's combat-focused courses like Phoenix Raven. Finally, he was driven to the new $10 million mounted operations counter-improvised explosive device range that simulates a realistic convoy training environment. There Selva saw instructors from the 421st Combat Training Squadron perform several tactical tasks in a three vehicle convoy such as counter-IED procedures, care under fire, and mounted operations.

Selva thanked the instructors for their demonstration as well as their impact on the overall mission.

"Thank you all so much for what you are doing here," he said to the group. "The work you are doing here is so important to all of the Airmen you have trained who serve in harm's way."