Photo By Senior Airman Nicholas Paczkowski | U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. David Snarr, 47th Flying Training Wing command chief,...... read more read more
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The 49th Wing hosted wing commanders, command chiefs, air crews and support personnel for the first-ever 19th Air Force Commander’s Call and Fly-In here, March 2 - 3, 2023.
The conference brought 165 Airmen from across the nation together to discuss their various wings’ missions and how they fit together to accomplish the 19th AF mission of training & educating the world's finest Airmen to deliver Airpower for America.
A small fleet of 19th AF flagship aircraft was assembled at Holloman, displaying each unit’s pride and heritage to everyone around them; however, that assembly of air power wasn’t just for show. The collective team participated in a large force exercise that included 12 different types of aircraft, ranging from the 49th Wing’s own F-16 Vipers and MQ-9 Reapers to a C-17 Globemaster III and KC-135 Stratotanker from Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma.
“A lot of our instructors are very young so while they teach the mission, they haven’t been out in the different mission sets the Air Force offers,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Phillip Stewart, 19th AF commander. “One of the most powerful things about the 19th Air Force is that we have commanders and airmen from all different facets and mission sets in the Air Force. We have all these planes and flew a mission (today) with all these young instructors in the backseats of the planes so they could actually not just understand the theory of air power, but see it in action.”
The 19th AF, one of two numbered air forces in Air Education and Training Command, trains more than 30,000 U.S. and allied students annually, including all formal aircrew training in AETC. One of the driving factors of the commander’s call was how each wing, and subsequently the 19th AF and AETC, support the Department of the Air Force’s five core missions:
Air superiority
Global strike
Rapid global mobility
Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance
Command and control
“If an Air Force can accomplish all of these missions, it is a global power; if not, it is second-rate,” said Stewart. “We are the only Air Force in the world that can do all five of these things. A few months ago, China's deputy air force commander, Wang Wei, said 'we will meet in the sky,' which he meant as a challenge. He's right—we will meet in the sky—but his side is swimming back because that's just the way it's going to be. That's what I want younger Airmen to understand: it's not just about the planes we have, but it's also because we have the best-trained Airmen in the world that make us the best.”
Each wing in the 19th AF has a specific mission that its own members understand intimately, but the way each unit fits together in the strategic mission can be easily overlooked.
“Sometimes it can be tough seeing the forest for the trees when we’re so dialed into our own wing’s mission set,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Justin Spears, 49th Wing commander. “We really capitalized on the opportunity to get so many 19th AF wing commanders and command chiefs in one room and discuss the complementary nature of our missions. This further emphasizes how important it is to lead and develop Airmen and build combat aircrew.”
| Date Taken: | 03.13.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 03.13.2023 16:24 |
| Story ID: | 440290 |
| Location: | HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, NEW MEXICO, US |
| Web Views: | 106 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, 49th Wing hosts first 19th Air Force Commander’s Call and Fly-In, by TSgt Victor J. Caputo, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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