JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Everyone here at Charleston has pride in our operations as well as our base, and it's nice to see we're not the only ones. Lt. Gen. William Shelton, assistant vice chief of staff of the Air Force, and 24 foreign attaches from around the globe had the same feelings when they arrived to see the world's premier airlifter in action.

Not only did the community wow them with a dinner on the USS Yorktown and a tour at Boeing, but the professional spirit present in everything our Airmen did was amazing. Down to the smallest items such as baggage handling, our team was there to tackle every detail.

Not only did General Shelton's staff remark Charleston's hospitality topped all other locations, including two major commands they had visited over the last two years, but General Shelton himself coined each Airman on the baggage detail on the flightline which supports our C-17s.

Master Sgt. Marrian James, 628th Air Base Wing protocol office, Staff Sgt. Travis Bell, 628th Contracting Squadron, Airman 1st Class Jerrica Richards, 628th Logistics Readiness Squadron, Airman 1st Class Sascha Becker, 628 LRS, Airman 1st Class Nicholas Pyle, 628 LRS, and Airman Douglas Carson, 628th Communications Squadron can take great pride as they showed the attention to detail and excellence which makes our Air Force special.

Following this, it was the Army's turn as their number one logistician stopped in to visit to both Charleston AFB and the Naval Weapons Station. Lt. Gen. Mitchell Stevenson, deputy chief of staff, Army G-4, was clearly impressed as he toured port operations, the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center's mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle facilities and discussed the total air, ground and sea logistical effort underway.

There's no question Charleston is figuring prominently in today's fight as we have the top sea and airlift hubs for surge cargo heading to Afghanistan.

Not to be outdone, congress also got on the Charleston band wagon as staffers from both the House and Senate Armed Services Committees arrived to review readiness and discuss energy initiatives. The 628 LRS started off and they shined. Brian Jones was fantastic as he showcased our streamlined processing line and then 1st Lt. Carissa McDaniel, Master Sgt. John Prato, Tech. Sgt. Brian Johnson and Staff Sgt. Michael Leimbach showed why they are Air Mobility Command's top fuel flight.

Second Lt. Charlie Morton was clearly on his game as he briefed the parts store and then Tech. Sgt. Latarsha Griffin stole the show as she talked about her recent deployment. Next, Ernie Hunter and Shirley Bowen stepped up to discuss both the 628 ABW's and 437th Airlift Wing's readiness rates and deftly fielded numerous questions.

Following this, it was time for the 628th Civil Engineer Squadron and Jeff Morgan. If you haven't met Mr. Morgan yet and you want to know more about saving energy, go find him as he is a wealth of information. He took us everywhere from the Chiller plant to the geothermal wells, (did you know we have hundreds of geo wells at Charleston AFB?), to the new lighting at the aerial port.

The entire visit was capped off by a superb tour of the Z-Portal at Rivers Avenue gate and a reminder of the constant vigilance Maj. Chris Callis, 628th Security Forces Squadron commander, and his Airmen provide the base.

Finally, Rear Adm. William Kiser arrived to discuss medical issues as we continue to merge Charleston AFB and Naval Weapons Station into one Joint Base. I appreciate 628th Aerospace Medicine Squadron Commander Lt. Col. Pam Smith's leadership as she showed him our joint spirit as the 628th Medical Group has a long tradition of working closely with its counterpart at the Navy.

I must admit it's been a whole lot of fun showing so many folks the great work Joint Team Charleston is doing.