USTRANSCOM chief of staff addresses citizen soldiers
Maj. Gen. Carlos ‘Butch’ Pair, USTRANSCOM’s chief of staff was the guest speaker at the Army luncheon during this year’s annual gathering in Philadelphia, Pa.
“Our country was founded on the shoulders of citizen soldiers,” Pair said, as he began his speech in one of the most heralded cities from our nation’s birth. “Once again our country finds itself on the edge of doing what is required to defend against evil.”
Bridging history with current operations, Pair described some of the contributions today’s citizen soldiers are making.
“The magnificent work being done by our National Guard and Reserves in the command to which I am serving, USTRANSCOM and its three components is awesome,” he said. “Of the 156,000 personnel in our command, 57 percent of our wartime population is in the Guard and Reserves, and 15 percent of those have been mobilized at the height of this first campaign of the war on terrorism.”
Pair stressed the importance of the total force. “More than ever, we depend on the Guard and Reserve to be equally fit, trained and ready. Whether we are fighting terrorism, dropping food to the hungry, or fighting fires in Colorado, we depend on citizen soldiers every single day of the year.”
While sharing impressive statistics, production numbers, missions accomplished, and individual stories of patriotism, Pair recognized sacrifices are being made as well.
“This does not come without cost,” he said. “Cost to families, employers and jobs.”
To help lower this cost for some of the citizens called to duty, USTRANSCOM recently held an ‘employers day’ where they were invited to see their employees at work. Pair said, “all [employers] commented how proud they were to be participating in the effort…”
In closing, Pair brought things full circle and focused on the war on terror.
“What will it take to win,” he asked the audience. Then answered by saying “The entire team – active, reserve component, families and employers. Whatever it takes, we must do.”
USTRANSCOM is a unified command and is headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Ill. Its component commands include the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command, the Navy’s Military Sealift Command, and the Army’s Military Traffic Management Command.
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