National president of the Air Force Association visits Air Mobility Command
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (USTCNS) --- For three Air Mobility Command bases, the last week of September came to a close with a visit from the national president of the Air Force Association, Mr. Thomas J. McKee.
As an orientation to AMC and its mission, McKee visited Scott AFB, Ill., McConnell AFB, Kan., and McGuire AFB, N.J.
While the primary purpose of the visit was to acquaint the AFA with AMC, the visit also allowed McKee to dispel a common misperception about AFA.
He emphasized, "The AFA is an organization for all ranks. It is equally concerned with servicing the needs of Air Force people whether they are enlisted, officers or civilians, whether they are active duty, reserve or guard."
According to McKee, AFA wants to ensure the voices of all Air Force members are heard and that AFA is determined to be a vigilant advocate for them.
"Air Force members need to be given the resources to do their jobs. This includes having an acceptable standard of living. AFA and other professional military organizations are working hard to ensure quality of life issues for all Air Force personnel are addressed," McKee said.
For many Air Force men and women, their biggest concern is being deployed and the subsequent separation from their family and friends.
Pointing to the downsizing in military manpower and the increased demands for deployment as being major stress factors for both the troops involved and for the Air Force, McKee said he wanted to find out how Air Force members and their families are handling the high ops tempo and how the Expeditionary Air Force concept was affecting AMC in comparison to other commands.
"EAF and Aerospace Expeditionary Forces are a tremendous improvement to the way the Air Force does business," said McKee. "But while it does improve stability for many of our Air Force people, there are still some of our folks who because of their duties still face quite a few days away from home."
McKee said America should be proud of the contributions made every day by the men and women of AMC. "Throughout my visit to the AMC bases," McKee said, "I was consistently impressed with the dedication, professionalism, and enthusiasm in which these service men and women completed their daily missions."
Illustrating this point, McKee recalled one of his experiences from his visit at McConnell. He was invited to observe a radio silent air refueling mission of a C-17 flown by two instructor pilots. In this type of air refueling mission, there isn't any communication between the crews of each aircraft.
"Besides having the capability to refuel an aircraft without using any form of communication, what was truly remarkable about this mission was the outstanding job done by the boom operator, Airman 1st Class John Sheffield. When I complimented him about his work performance, Sheffield replied that he had only been certified 'mission capable' as a boom operator just two weeks before," said McKee.
"It was very impressive to see such a young, capable airman so dedicated to doing a good job," he said.
"Witnessing the hard work that all service men and women of the Air Force put into their jobs reaffirms my belief that everyone -- regardless of rank -- deserves respect," said McKee. "Seeing the AMC team's commitment to excellence motivates me to work even harder at bringing their concerns and needs to the attention of Congress."
McKee was selected as the chairman of the board of AFA at the organization's national convention in September. He assumed his new duties Oct 1. (FROM AIR MOBILITY COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS).
As an orientation to AMC and its mission, McKee visited Scott AFB, Ill., McConnell AFB, Kan., and McGuire AFB, N.J.
While the primary purpose of the visit was to acquaint the AFA with AMC, the visit also allowed McKee to dispel a common misperception about AFA.
He emphasized, "The AFA is an organization for all ranks. It is equally concerned with servicing the needs of Air Force people whether they are enlisted, officers or civilians, whether they are active duty, reserve or guard."
According to McKee, AFA wants to ensure the voices of all Air Force members are heard and that AFA is determined to be a vigilant advocate for them.
"Air Force members need to be given the resources to do their jobs. This includes having an acceptable standard of living. AFA and other professional military organizations are working hard to ensure quality of life issues for all Air Force personnel are addressed," McKee said.
For many Air Force men and women, their biggest concern is being deployed and the subsequent separation from their family and friends.
Pointing to the downsizing in military manpower and the increased demands for deployment as being major stress factors for both the troops involved and for the Air Force, McKee said he wanted to find out how Air Force members and their families are handling the high ops tempo and how the Expeditionary Air Force concept was affecting AMC in comparison to other commands.
"EAF and Aerospace Expeditionary Forces are a tremendous improvement to the way the Air Force does business," said McKee. "But while it does improve stability for many of our Air Force people, there are still some of our folks who because of their duties still face quite a few days away from home."
McKee said America should be proud of the contributions made every day by the men and women of AMC. "Throughout my visit to the AMC bases," McKee said, "I was consistently impressed with the dedication, professionalism, and enthusiasm in which these service men and women completed their daily missions."
Illustrating this point, McKee recalled one of his experiences from his visit at McConnell. He was invited to observe a radio silent air refueling mission of a C-17 flown by two instructor pilots. In this type of air refueling mission, there isn't any communication between the crews of each aircraft.
"Besides having the capability to refuel an aircraft without using any form of communication, what was truly remarkable about this mission was the outstanding job done by the boom operator, Airman 1st Class John Sheffield. When I complimented him about his work performance, Sheffield replied that he had only been certified 'mission capable' as a boom operator just two weeks before," said McKee.
"It was very impressive to see such a young, capable airman so dedicated to doing a good job," he said.
"Witnessing the hard work that all service men and women of the Air Force put into their jobs reaffirms my belief that everyone -- regardless of rank -- deserves respect," said McKee. "Seeing the AMC team's commitment to excellence motivates me to work even harder at bringing their concerns and needs to the attention of Congress."
McKee was selected as the chairman of the board of AFA at the organization's national convention in September. He assumed his new duties Oct 1. (FROM AIR MOBILITY COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS).
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