Photo By Airman 1st Class Kourtney Ross | Brig. Gen. Stephen P. Snelson, U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center commander, and...... read more read more
The U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center commander visited Pope Army Airfield on Fort Liberty, North Carolina, Aug. 26-27, 2024, to observe how its Airmen are preparing for Great Power Competition.
Brig. Gen. Stephen Snelson met with personnel from the 43rd Air Mobility Operations Group, which consists of approximately 2,700 Airmen dedicated to providing ground-based infrastructure for rapid global crisis response, including the no-fail mission of deploying Soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division, who are also located on Fort Liberty.
Snelson said the group’s Airmen and mission play a key role in deterring China and other antagonists who aim to disrupt the rules-based international order.
“Because of what the 43rd AMOG has mastered and what they do every single day, those units on this installation can get out the door at a moment's notice. That is the embodiment of Great Power Competition,” Snelson said. “No matter where our adversaries are, what they may try to do, we are ready – tonight. We are giving our adversaries pause on whatever aspirations they might have.”
The group, which is one of 42 locations within the Expeditionary Center enterprise, supports the military’s global air transportation requirements by maintaining aircraft, managing passengers and cargo, inspecting equipment, providing personnel for aeromedical patient transport, planning travel routes, managing airspace, conducting combat training, and performing pre-airdrop inspections.
“As long as the 43rd AMOG keeps doing what they're doing now, they are going to create dilemmas for our enemies long into the future,” he said.
The experience of working so closely with the Soldiers of the 82nd Airborne and other joint partners will provide the group’s Airmen an advantage if armed conflict breaks out, Snelson said.
“It’s the joint team that’ll go to war,” Snelson said. “I think our Airmen here at the 43rd AMOG are pretty uniquely positioned where they're getting that joint education and there's joint practices that many other Airmen in the Air Force don't have the opportunity to get.”
The general also encouraged Pope’s Airmen to not accept the status quo.
“Be bold. Junior Airmen oftentimes have the best ideas of all the Airmen that are in a room,” Snelson said. “Don't wait on generals, colonels and chiefs to come up with a new innovative idea. It's okay for our most junior Airmen to speak up to point out things that'll make the mission better. That will make us more lethal. Have the courage be a leader, stand up and say something.”
Chief Master Sgt. Dennis Fuselier, the center's command chief who joined Snelson on the visit, reinforced Snelson's message by urging Airmen to ensure their ideas and innovations are passed on, preventing future Airmen from having to tackle the same obstacles and problems again.
“Codify them, write them down, and ensure they live past their tenure in this unit,” he said.
| Date Taken: | 08.28.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.16.2024 11:31 |
| Story ID: | 480958 |
| Location: | POPE ARMY AIRFIELD, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 127 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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