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Total Force meets at Fort Dix for DIRMOBFOR conference

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Bryan Bouchard
  • Air Mobility Warfare Center
FORT DIX, N.J. (AMCNS) --  More than 20 senior air mobility officers met during a Director of Mobility Forces Conference here Jan. 18-19 to share vital information to improve practices.

The conference, which included 10 senior officers who have previously served as Directors of Mobility Forces, was designed to be an opportunity for leaders in the mobility world to enhance practices in current operations, such as those in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, and for future operations – whether for combat or humanitarian relief.

“What we are trying to do is gather their inputs so that we can make sure we are teaching exactly what the warfighter needs,” said Air Mobility Warfare Center Commander Maj. Gen. Scott Gray.

Directors of Mobility Forces, or DIRMOBFORs, are responsible for providing the appropriate theater airlift operations throughout a given AOR. The position is filled by mobility leaders from the Air Force’s Total Force: active duty, Reserve and Air National Guard. DIRMOBFORs work with key task force and command leaders to ensure mobility airlift assets are in the right places at the right times.

“We want to make sure that our DIRMOBFORs are aware of the most current tactics, techniques and procedures at AMC,” General Gray said. “We also want to make sure future DIRMOBFORs are up to date on command and control capabilities, and they know how to integrate mobility air forces assets for the combat air forces, so the joint forces air component commander has a truly-integrated Air Force.”

For conference organizers, getting past DIRMOBFORs to attend was surprisingly easy.

“We had an overwhelming response from former DIRMOBFORs,” said Domenic Fazzo, deputy chief of mobility operations for AMWC's U.S. Air Force Mobility Operations School. “Normally, it’s difficult to get these people in the same place because they are important and very busy. We want to get this group of recent DIRMOBFORS to tap their brains, so we can improve the programs and make their successors better prepared for the future.”

The conference addressed concerns and issues found in current and past operations within USCENTCOM and humanitarian operations like the relief efforts for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The DIRMOBFORs for each of those operations were on hand.

Brigadier Gen. Buddy Reed had recently returned from serving as the DIRMOBFOR at USCENTCOM’s Combined Air Operations Center at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. Formerly the vice commander of the Air Force Reserve’s 514th Air Mobility Wing at McGuire AFB, N.J., the general said that it’s essential to update the information future DIRMOBFORs will be using once they are placed in that position.

“We obviously can’t continue to teach the same information for every course,” General Reed said. “The information is constantly changing and we’re here to give these folks an update of where the DIRMOBFOR role is [now] at.”