2016 Year in Review

  • Published
  • By Col. John Klein
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing commander

Happy New Year and welcome back to what promises to be an exciting and dynamic year at Travis Air Force Base!  Over this past year, your hard work and dedication paved the way to Rapidly Project American Power Anytime…Anywhere.  For your efforts we were ultimately recognized by the Secretary of the Air Force by winning the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award.  To celebrate the many successes of 2016, I’d like to further highlight a few of your greatest accomplishments throughout the past year.

2016 was a busy year for our Operations Group with over 7,000 sorties flown. That’s almost 20 sorties a day that you flew, planned, maintained, or supported.  Recently, the Operations and Maintenance Groups pulled off an amazing demonstration of “Rapid Global Mobility” by employing KC-10s, C-17s, 15 crews, and 36 maintainers to support the President of the United States during the 2016 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference in Peru.  Although these efforts supported a singular event, it is indicative of normal operations for these Groups.  The C-5M conversion was also completed this year, further enabling out-sized cargo delivery with much-improved maintenance reliability rates.  This enabled the critical shipment of an improved floating bridge that was delivered to Northern Iraq, as well as sensitive NASA satellite equipment.  

As the only Air Mobility Command base with three assigned major weapons system aircraft, the Maintenance Group is always supporting Rapid Global Mobility day in and day out.  Whether deploying maintainers in support of Overseas Contingency Operations, or launching jets in support of presidential and humanitarian assistance missions at home, this was a busy year on the flight line and in the back shops.  Along with the C-5M modernization, 14 of 27 KC-10’s went through extensive avionics upgrades this year.  For the Aerial Port Squadron, it was business as usual, with more than 37,000 tons of cargo and 32,000 passengers processed.   

David Grant USAF Medical Center tackled numerous challenges in 2016, but the following story demonstrates their compassionate care and professionalism.  DGMC recently received a patient that needed to be put on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine (ECMO) because the individual was having trouble oxygenating their blood as a result of heart and lung issues.  Airmen at DGMC were able to quickly reach out to Stanford University Medical Center and using deployment medical skills, transfer the patient, ensuring the best standard of care.  In another instance, DGMC reacted to a trauma case of a young Airman injured at the aerial port.  In a fantastic display of teamwork and professional competence, they were able to treat and stabilize the patient’s life-threatening injuries at DGMC, which is usually only geared towards acute and elective care, not trauma.      

The Mission Support Group achieved numerous significant milestones!  The 60th Contracting Squadron won the Air Force Small Business Team of the Year and the Wing Verne Orr Award, while the Sierra Inn Dining Facility was selected as AMC’s Best Dining Facility for the 2nd year in a row!  The 60th Communications Squadron led our wing efforts during the Command Cyber Readiness Inspection preparation, ultimately ensuring compliance and achieving an “Excellent” rating.  Our Defenders certified the Emergency Responder Urban Training Site in 2016, which fosters a community partnership between our Security Forces Squadron and local civilian agencies.  This exceptional group of mission support professionals embodied the deep commitment to our local community through partnership and cooperation.  Through infrastructure projects and contracts as well as local Explosive Ordnance Disposal assistance, the Mission Support Group is engaged both locally and globally!

Every mission partner, group, squadron, and individual here at Travis AFB should be proud of their contributions to achieving mission success.  The unparalleled improvements and strong work ethic allowed us to set the Air Force standard and establish new records. 

As we begin 2017 and face the new opportunities and challenges that are sure to accompany it, I know the 60 Air Mobility Wing will stand ready with the same energy and enthusiasm that I saw from each of you this past year.  Remember, we are America’s Finest Mobility Force…Serving Locally, Engaging Globally.  Your continued legacy of hard work and dedication are commendable and I’m excited to see where we will take the wing in 2017—No Bounds!

TERMINI NON EXISTENT…THERE ARE NO BOUNDS