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General Johns makes first trip to AOR as AMC commander

  • Published
  • By Air Mobility Command Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  General Raymond E. Johns Jr., commander of Air Mobility Command, departed for the U.S. Central Command Area of Responsibility to visit several AMC en route locations and operations centers Dec. 5 and returned Dec. 14.

Since taking the seat of commander of Air Mobility Command Nov. 20, the general has made it his top priority to see the air mobility mission "through the eyes of the Airmen." This trip marks his second series of visits to AMC Airmen and wings, but his first trip to the AOR as the AMC commander.

General Johns' began his overseas journey at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, where he visited with members of the 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing. The 521st AMOW is one of two AMC overseas wings responsible for moving people, cargo and patients through Europe in support of the ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Following Germany, the AMC commander made his first stop on his Southwest Asia trip to Combined Air Operations Center and the CAOC's Air Mobility Division, where all air mobility operations are coordinated for the region. The AMD coordinates more than 180 C-17, C-130 and air refueling sorties daily. In fact, air mobility aircraft fly nearly 70 percent of all the missions flown in the AOR.

The general also visited the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing to focus on tanker and airlift operations. The 379th is one of the largest, most diverse expeditionary wings in the Air Force. The wing and its associate units operate more than 100 aircraft, providing mission-essential combat power, aeromedical evacuation and intelligence support for operations in the AOR.

General Johns then flew to Kandahar Airfield, home to the 772nd Expeditionary Airlift Squadron.

The772nd EAS C-130J Hercules aircrews perform combat airlift throughout various locations within the CENTCOM AOR. Performing 15 to 20 sorties per day, the team drops up to 36 tons of equipment and materials providing ground troops with mission essential supplies.

After Kandahar, General Johns visited the Transit Center at Manas International Airport, formerly Manas Air Base, in Kyrgyzstan.

Manas serves as a vital U.S. military logistics hub that provides three critical missions: transporting coalition troops in and out of the theater; transporting equipment and supplies to the fight; and in-flight refueling for coalition aircraft supporting operations throughout Afghanistan.

The center moves approximately 30,000 coalition troops in and out of Afghanistan each month, and Manas tankers deliver about 300,000 gallons of fuel daily to coalition aircraft in support of current operations.

Next on the general's AOR tour was CENTCOM's Deployment Distribution Operations Center. The Center merges transportation logistics experts from all services to plan the most efficient and timely movement of supplies to troops on the ground.

The next stop in General Johns' AOR tour landed him at the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing. The wing provides intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and aerial refueling for Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom and Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa.

General Johns' visit to the 380th AEW focused on its KC-10 tanker operations which support aeromedical evacuation and cargo and personnel movement, and even command and control relay.

While in Iraq, the general visited Contingency Operating Base Speicher, temporary home to the 164th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron.

The 164th EAS arrived at COB Speicher in late October as part of preliminary testing for the U.S. Army direct support mission. The test is being used to validate the plan to support the delivery of U.S. Army time-sensitive, mission-critical equipment, supplies and personnel into the Commander of Army Forces' area of operations.

During testing, the 164th EAS - made up primarily of members of the 164th Airlift Squadron, Ohio Air National Guard -- is tasked directly by the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade.

The final stop on the general's tour of the AOR was Joint Base Balad, the most forward-deployed combat wing in Operation Iraqi Freedom. So far in 2009, Balad aeromedical evacuation professionals cared for about 1,000 patients, consisting of 34 urgent, 96 priority and 837 routine patients. Balad aerial porters handled more than 5,400 arrivals and departures, and facilitated the offload of more than 19,500 passengers and 18,400 short tons of cargo, and the on-load of 17,000 passengers and more than 14,000 short tons of cargo.

The general kicked off his initiative to see the mission firsthand and meet the people who accomplish it every day only 10 days after assuming command of AMC. During his first trip as commander, General Johns visited eight Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve bases along the East Coast and the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.