JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD. Wash. -- Gen. Maryanne Miller, commander of Air Mobility Command, and Chief Master Sgt. Terrence Greene, AMC command chief, saw first-hand what makes Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, the global-reaching airlift power that it is during their visit here, June 24-27.
Team McChord Airmen showcased their units’ humanitarian airlift and airdrop capabilities, offering Miller and Greene hands-on experience operating deicing vehicles and practicing combatives taught by the 627th Security Forces Squadron’s Phoenix Raven members.
The AMC leaders spoke with several groups across base, including a session where they expressed to Team McChord’s first sergeants the importance of taking care of Airmen. On the last day of the visit, Miller and Greene addressed McChord Airmen at an all call, covering topics including readiness, mobility operations and innovation.
They spoke on new practices that the Air Force is beginning to integrate into exercises to increase lethality and readiness under any condition.
“We’re going to start practicing different ways of doing things,” Miller said. “We’ve got to be ready to face any threat and remain connected to the fight even without the internet. We must be able to do our job, delivering strength, in any environment.”
While there is a increasing demand signal for a high state of readiness in contested and degraded environments, Greene also stressed the importance of installation resiliency at home.
“We’ve got to change our mindset, because we often think about installation resiliency only when we’re deployed,” Greene said. “When we talk base resiliency, especially for us in AMC, we’ve got to start looking at it through a different lens. We have to start thinking about installation resiliency right here at home, in the United States.”
Miller and Greene also expressed the impact McChord’s C-17 fleet had on Air Force operations in 2018. During their presentation, they displayed a world map with hundreds of lines branching out from JBLM, illustrating the vast reach of JBLM C-17s as they execute missions all over the world, including in Antarctica.
“It’s not an understatement to say we’re global,” said Miller. “The tempo we operate at is incredible. So I thank you for everything that you do, because your support to the mobility mission achieves global impacts every day.”
Innovation also ranks as an important topic across the Air Force. AMC leaders highlighted the work Airmen are doing around the AMC community. Miller spoke of an Airman who represented AMC as an Air Force Phoenix Spark Tank finalist in February who 3D printed a device that would reduce cargo parachute failures during airdrops, thus allowing airlift missions to be more cost-efficient and reliable.
Gen Miller and Chief Greene also emphasized their awareness of the challenges Airmen face. They encouraged AMC leaders to empower their Airmen to innovate and foot stomped their commitment to placing the right leaders at every level to prioritize the ever-changing needs of the Air Force.
“You all are doing phenomenal work across the command,” said Greene. “We felt the energy and camaraderie of AMC’s Airmen, we’ve seen a lot of things going right, going well. Keep that energy going.”