{"id":143787,"date":"2024-04-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=143787"},"modified":"2024-04-05T17:20:48","modified_gmt":"2024-04-05T17:20:48","slug":"usaf-senior-leaders-visit-mariana-islands-on-ace-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=143787","title":{"rendered":"USAF senior leaders visit Mariana Islands on ACE trip"},"content":{"rendered":"
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ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) — \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall<\/strong><\/a>, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin<\/strong><\/a> and Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force David Flosi<\/strong><\/a> continued their week-long tour of the U.S. Pacific Air Forces<\/strong><\/a> area of responsibility visiting Saipan, Tinian, and Guam April 4.<\/p>\n

While in the Mariana Islands, the senior leaders met with elected officials, as well as Airmen who are expanding Agile Combat Employment<\/strong><\/a> capabilities in the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a privilege to meet with Governor Palacios and Lieutenant Governor Apatang on Saipan, Mayors Camacho and Aldan on Tinian, and then Governor Guerrero on Guam,\u201d Kendall said. \u201cKey locations require key partnerships and strong community support. Our American community leaders in the Indo-Pacific region are important members of our national security team. The leadership, close cooperation, and candid feedback provided by community leaders is crucial to our efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n

The meetings with elected officials offered the opportunity to address local interest in Air Force efforts to restore military capability within the island chain. It also provided a moment for local leaders to pass along their support for U.S. forces and their continued desire to work together on future projects.<\/p>\n

On Tinian, the senior leaders observed the adaptive rehabilitation work being done on the North Field in support of ACE. The Airmen there are restoring over 20 million square feet of degraded World War II pavement so that ultimately the rejuvenated runway can serve as a power projection platform.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur Airmen at Tinian are successfully expanding our Agile Combat Employment options to enhance deterrence, increase flexibility, and, if needed, rapidly generate combat power,\u201d said Allvin. \u201cThey are the pathfinders for advancing our scheme of maneuver in the Indo-Pacific.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Allvin was welcomed<\/strong><\/a> as the 23rd Chief of Staff of the Air Force in November, he challenged Airmen to \u201csolve for agility \u2013 initiating action in the right direction while building in the flexibility to learn and adjust while in motion.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Airmen on Tinian accepted that challenge and moved out quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe arrived on this island with little in terms of plans and resources, but immediately acquired the best we could and started executing our mission,\u201d said Capt. Matthew Jacobs, 513th Expeditionary RED HORSE Squadron officer in charge. \u201cWe\u2019ve learned lessons and had to adjust fire along the way but have persevered to lay the groundwork for critical efforts going forward. I couldn\u2019t be prouder of the work this team has accomplished in our time here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team broke ground in January, initiating clearance of hundreds of acres of tropical jungle currently enveloping the airfield. Despite limited resources, austere conditions, and environmental challenges, the civil engineers continued to solve for agility.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur team has worked tirelessly to navigate endless logistical hurdles to bring the people, equipment, and resources here for this herculean effort,\u201d Jacobs said. \u201cOur Airmen adapted and made the mission happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s clearing progress facilitated an initial tranche of austere landings at North Field. The landings were conducted as part of regional exercises. The team also enabled an upcoming beddown of additional personnel and generated a laydown area required to repave North Field. In addition, the Airmen continue to evaluate the integrity of the current pavement while planning how best to bolster the airfield as fast as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeeting our RED HORSE engineering Airmen was a delight,\u201d Kendall said. \u201cThis small team has a large task. They are working at a remote, austere location to reclaim a historical airfield. Equally impressive is their detailed care to protect the historical record, environment, and natural habitat during this effort to increase our security.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Guam, Allvin and Flosi conducted an all call with Team Andersen. During the hour-long session, the two discussed the Department of the Air Force\u2019s reoptimization initiative<\/strong><\/a>, as well as the important work the Airmen on Guam are performing and its strategic importance.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur Airmen here at Andersen are at the tip of the spear of the Indo-Pacific,\u201d Allvin said. \u201cNot only are they protecting and defending the territory of the United States, but also building partnerships and shaping the operational environment, which is key to deterring aggression.\u201d<\/p>\n

All three senior leaders were also briefed by Andersen leadership on their trip on the status of recovery efforts from Typhoon Mawar<\/strong><\/a>, which struck Guam last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cTyphoon Mawar struck nearly a year ago,\u201d Kendall said. \u201cTeam Andersen has done a remarkable job at restoring mission capability, especially given the full scope of damage. However, full restoration remains incomplete \u2014 our trip has helped me fully appreciate the resources needed for this task.\u201d<\/p>\n

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U.S. Air Force Logo<\/title><\/p><\/div>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) — \u00a0 Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin and Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force David Flosi continued their week-long tour of the U.S. Pacific Air Forces area of responsibility visiting Saipan, Tinian, and Guam April 4. While in the Mariana Islands, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":544,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-143787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=143787"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143787\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":143789,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143787\/revisions\/143789"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=143787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=143787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=143787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}