18th Air Force welcomes new commander

Published Sept. 26, 2011
By Maj. Michael Meridith
18th Air Force Public Affairs

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- Lt. Gen. Mark F. Ramsay formally assumed command of the 18th Air Force from Lt. Gen. Robert R. Allardice in a change of command ceremony today at the Scott Club here.

"The flag that we're passing today is significant ... it's the flag, it's the guidon, it's the colors of the Eighteenth Air Force," said Gen. Raymond E. Johns, Jr., commander of Air Mobility Command. "It's significant because of the responsibility that goes along with the position. It's what General Allardice has done so well and what General Ramsay is about to do."

The 18th Air Force is Air Mobility Command's sole warfighting numbered air force, the Air Force's largest NAF, and is responsible for AMC's worldwide operational mission. With more than 135,000 Guardsmen, Reservists, and active-duty Airmen and approximately 1,200 airlift and air refueling aircraft, 18th Air Force manages the Air Force's global mobility enterprise through the 618th Air and Space Operations Center (Tanker Airlift Control Center), the 15th and 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Forces, 15 active duty wings and a stand-alone group.

During Allardice's tenure this total force team executed more than 249,000 airlift sorties; off-loaded more than two billion pounds of fuel; and transported more than 4.1 million passengers, 1.4 million tons of cargo, and 50,000 patients through aeromedical evacuation (with an average 98 percent survival rate for wounded patients).

"Somewhere in the world today, something is happening and the phone is ringing and we're going to answer the call," said Allardice. "Today we're delivering hope, fueling the fight, and saving lives. And we're going to do it tomorrow and the next day and the next day."

In "answering the call" the men and women of the 18th Air Force also integrated active duty and reserve component forces to ensure the success of critical missions across the globe, including the 2010 Afghan surge and drawdown of forces in Iraq; relief efforts in the wake of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Pakistan floods, and 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami; and support to both coalition and NATO operations over Libya.

As the top officer in 18th Air Force, Allardice simultaneously served as the commander of U.S. Strategic Command's Task Force 294, ensuring its mission to provide a continuously ready air refueling capability for that command. He also led mobility Airmen in accomplishing several historic firsts. In June 2011, one of the command's C-5M Galaxys conducted an arctic overflight, marking the first time a U.S. Air Force plane had flown the northern route from the U.S., over Canada and into the Arctic Circle, then back down through Russian and Kazakhstan airspace to Afghanistan.

This historic flight paved the way for more efficient operations into and out of the Central Command area of responsibility. Finally, he led the command to another historic first when 18th Air Force Airmen planned and conducted the first-ever C-17 Globemaster III mid-winter Antarctic rescue mission and evacuation of an ailing government contractor.

Allardice commanded the 18th Air Force since August 2009 and moves on to his next assignment as the vice commander of Air Mobility Command.

Ramsay is the sixth commander of 18th Air Force since its reactivation in 2003. Prior to this assignment, he served as the Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations and Intelligence, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe from October 2009 to September 2011. He is a command pilot with more than 4,700 hours in the C-9A/C, C-20B, C-37A, C-40B, and the KC-135R/T.

"I think that what we do as military leaders at any rank - because we all lead and we all follow -- is that we take care of our people so they can take care of the mission," said Ramsay. "We bring the word 'rapid' to rapid global mobility. We do it for allies, we do it for partners, and we do it for friends. We do it because we have to, because it is what Americans do, and we do it better than anybody."