JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. -- Airmen, Soldiers and guests gathered together to reflect on the accomplishments of service members at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and to honor their service through the renaming of a C-17 Globemaster III.
The C-17, tail number 10-0220, was named the Spirit of Joint Base Lewis-McChord during a renaming ceremony July 5 to honor all service members who’ve served at the joint base and the accomplishments that have been made on the installation and in joint training.
“By naming this aircraft the Spirit of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, we are symbolically recognizing that the mission of the 62nd Airlift Wing to deliver safe and reliable global airlift, along with all of the mission sets entrusted to Team McChord are no longer just the responsibility of the Airmen assigned here,” said Col. Leonard Kosinski, 62nd AW commander. “This is to acknowledge that these no-fail missions would not be possible without the support provided by our joint partners and the local community.”
The naming of the aircraft was to commemorate McChord Field and Fort Lewis joint-basing efforts and the efforts of Airmen and Soldiers to provide joint warfighter training, material movement, and national defense capabilities to the Pacific Northwest.
“Today’s naming of the world’s premier global airlift aircraft, the C-17, is the essence of what lies at the heart of JBLM,” said Col. Daniel Morgan JBLM installation commander. “JBLM is a joint force and power projection capability like no other in the Department of Defense that co-locates our Air Force’s global air power and the world’s best strategic land power in our Army.”
The Spirit of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, tail number 10-0220, is newest C-17 of McChord’s permanently assigned C-17 fleet.
“Today, almost 18 years after that first C-17 arrived at McChord Field, we again meet to celebrate the dawning of a new period in the lengthy military legacy of the Pacific Northwest,” said Kosinski. “However, this time we are here not just as the members of a single service, but as a joint team to highlight the accomplishments that we have made in the first seven years of JBLM and to look toward the future and the opportunities that will only be possible with the combined resources of the joint base.”
The naming of the C-17 symbolizes the unity of service members at JBLM and the strength of the joint base, said Morgan.
“Joint basing has its strengths and weaknesses, but it is important to remember that organizations that do not adapt will fade,” said Morgan. “This newly named C-17 demonstrates how far we have come as a team of teams.”
Since the inception of the joint base, JBLM has made huge strides in installation management, quality of life of Soldiers and Airmen, and joint training, said Kosinski. This includes the integration of ground and air mobility liaison officers that regularly coordinate and execute joint training and weekly mission operational trainers.
“The base has evolved from two individual installations into a true power projection platform for the nation,” said Kosinski. “As an installation, we will have an opportunity to showcase these unique strategic capabilities as JBLM prepares to host Exercise Mobility Guardian later this month.”
Exercise Mobility Guardian will be a capstone training opportunity that wouldn’t be possible without the combined resources of the joint base, said Kosinski.
“Today, as we dedicate the Spirit of Joint-Base Lewis-McChord we recognize that the ‘whole is greater than the sum of its parts’ with regard to joint basing,” said Kosinski. “JBLM is well established and through the efforts of the Soldiers and Airmen stationed here and community partners, will continue to be the DOD’s premier power projection platform in the pacific well into the 21st Century.”