Director of Mobility visits Camp Djibouti

Photo By Tech. Sgt. Markus Maier | Staff Sgt. Shawn Finch checks in with the Air Terminal Operations Center after helping to load a 58,210 pound armored wrecker onto a C-17 Globemaster. Air mobility in the U.S. Central Command area of operations, makes it possible to move people and cargo where needed, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Finch is an air terminal operations controller with the 8th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron, Southwest Asia. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson)  

10.02.2007

Story by Tech. Sgt. Markus Maier 

United States Air Forces Central           

By Staff Sgt. Markus M. Maier
U.S. Central Command Air Forces Public Affairs

Southwest Asia (AFPN) – Recently, U.S. Central Command Air Forces Director of Mobility, Brig. Gen. Alfred J. Stewart, visited Camp Djibouti, the first of his travels through out the area of operations since assuming his position.

"My purpose is to find out what requirements are and how we can help them get their mission done," General Stewart said. "If you look at a map and see how geographically separated this AOR (area of responsibility) is from Afghanistan and Iraq, you'll understand that they are pretty much completely dependent on air for re-supply. We have C-130s . . . that bring supplies here to help them get the mission done."

The CENTAF AOR stretches from the Horn of Africa through the Persian Gulf region, into Central Asia. Those distances make air mobility a vital component to the CENTAF mission - moving people and cargo where needed, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

On the day of the general's visit to the HOA, U.S. Air Force C-130 and C-17 crews flew approximately 180 airlift sorties, delivering 300 tons of cargo and transporting approximately 5,500 passengers throughout the CENTAF AOR.

"The entire air mobility system is hard at work in OIF (Operation Iraqi Freedom) and OEF (Operating Enduring Freedom)," General Stewart said. "A lot of the time we are invisible, but we make the rest of the fight possible."

The air mobility mission also encompasses two other critical aspects – medical evacuation and aerial refueling.

"We have tremendous statistics to confirm that when we have injured Marines, Soldiers and Airmen in battle, if we can get them into the hands of the aerial medical evacuation system, they have a 98 percent chance of surviving," according to the general. "If we can just get them, within a reasonable amount of time after they were injured, into the aerial medical system they are going to survive. That's a tremendous part of what we do."

The aerial refueling capability provided by the air mobility team allows U.S. Air Force and coalition aircrafts to stay in the air covering long distances in considerably less time, the general added.

"To carry the fight to the enemy, the KC-135s and KC-10s are absolutely essential," he said. "They make it possible for the Combined Forces Air Component commander to provide the air order battle over the battle field almost continuously. Without aerial refueling, it would be a much different fight. It would be much more difficult to do the things we do.

Recapitalizing and modernizing the tanker inventory is the Air Force's number one priority to ensure the joint force can continue to project combat capability anytime, anywhere."

The general also noted that in some ways that is what set's the U.S. military apart from all others.

"We are able to move. We have global reach, global mobility every day and the assets of Air Mobility Command make that global reach possible."

• Date Taken: 10.02.2007
• Date Posted: 10.02.2007 08:33
• Story ID: 12672