JOINT BASE CHARLESTON –
Saturday, the 628th Air Base Wing will be a year old and what an amazing year it was. Standing up a Joint Base while supporting the surge in Afghanistan and helping relieve the suffering of Haitians after a 7.0 earthquake was testimony to the talent and strength we have at Charleston. We now look to what 2011 holds and, like 2010, it will start with change. Friday, Air Mobility Command is restructuring to accommodate the growing focus on expeditionary combat support, training and installation support. In particular, the 628 ABW joins Grand Forks, Pope, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst and the 627th Air Base Group at Joint Base McChord in transferring from the 18th Air Force at Scott Air Force Base to the Expeditionary Center at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. The Expeditionary Center will continue to provide exceptional expeditionary combat support training and education, but will now oversee installation support functions for both joint bases and other Base Realignment and Closure impacted bases.
I'm excited about this shift and the focus it brings on our incredible troops. Individuals like Senior Airman Robert Corbett in our Logistics Readiness Squadron. He's been embedded twice with the Army and each time has earned Top Performer in the Basic Combat Convoy course before taking on the duties of being a Lead Vehicle Commander in theater. This duty entailed leading convoys of 45-plus vehicles through the most dangerous roads in Iraq. He's hard charging at home as well, pursuing his associate degree, volunteering as an assistant coach at a local high school and helping keep others safe as a member of Airmen Against Drunk Driving. Then there is Tech. Sgt. Steffan Fritz from the Communications Squadron who just returned from a six-month deployment to Africa. He saw duty in Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya as part of the Army's 418th Civil Affairs battalion, Charlie Company. It's not often I receive word back from an Army captain about one of our members, but I did in this case as Capt. Stephen Bernard, Team Leader CAT 4181 was impressed by Sergeant Fritz's performance. While our primary mission will always be to provide unrivaled support to our flying operations around the world, there's no question we're seeing growth in supporting our joint partners.
And in some cases, Coalition partners as well. This is what kept Lt. Col. Karen Wade, one of our Reservists in the Medical Group busy last fall as she trained Iraqi medical personnel as part of the In-Country Clinical Observership program. By the way, if you run into Colonel Wade, congratulate her on her recent selection for promotion to the rank of colonel, a major achievement for any officer.
Because of the AMC restructure, we have the opportunity to host the Expeditionary Center Commander, Brig. Gen. William Bender here at Charleston in January. If his name sounds familiar, it should, as he was the 437th Operations Group Commander from 2002 to 2004. For day-to-operations though, this AMC shift should be transparent. We're set to take on an AMC Logistics Compliance Assessment Program inspection in February alongside the 437th and we'll continue to work hand-in-hand with them and the 315th as we roll into the Air Expo in April, a health services inspection in the fall and then the November operational readiness inspection, all the while keeping up the Charleston standard as a major player in protecting this great country and ensuring unmatched support to all our joint base partners. It's never a boring day here in the Lowcountry.