60th AMW commander thanks troops

  • Published
  • By Col. Lyn Sherlock
  • 60th AMW commander
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Men and women of the 60th Air Mobility Wing, I have been truly blessed and honored to be your commander these last two years! 

Every day you serve our nation knowing at any time you could be asked to leave your home and family behind while you deploy forward supporting our nation’s objectives. 

Many of you have done so, many times. Thank you for your many sacrifices. Thank you for your selfless service. 

To our partners in the 15th Expeditionary Mobility Task Force, 615th Contingency Response Wing and 349th AMW, thank you for being great partners in a common mission. It has been an honor to serve beside you! 

In the two years since I arrived, the Travis Team has supported Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom and Noble Eagle by flying more than 154,000 hours in more than 24,750 missions, providing nearly 50 percent of Air Mobility Command’s support for the war. 

You have supported Americans in crisis in the wake of hurricanes and aided devastated people overseas in the wake of earthquakes and tsunamis. 

And, as I like to point out to many audiences, you not only support our AMC mission at home and overseas, you support the larger Air Force, the DoD and our coalition partners as you deploy to bases around the world, often establishing operations in combat zones. 

In fact, in 2005 more than 2,400 Travis Airmen deployed in support of the Global War on Terrorism. 

When I arrived in 2004, I commented on the tremendous reputation for excellence the Travis Team enjoyed throughout Air Mobility Command. In the last two years, you have certainly continued that tradition. 

The Travis Team has been recognized with an astounding number of individual command and Air Force awards, as well as an impressive number of unit/team awards including 13 first place trophies of a possible 28 during AMC’s 2005 Rodeo Competition and winning the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award for both 2004 and 2005, both Reserve and active wings. 

In addition, the 60th and 349th Maintenance Groups were awarded the 2004 Air Force Daedalian Maintenance Trophy; the 60th Logistics Readiness Squadron won the American Petroleum Institute Award for best Fuels Flight in the Air Force; the 60th Services Squadron won the 2005/2006 Air Force Hennessy Food Service Award; the Travis Firefighters [made up of civilian, Reserve, and active-duty members] were named Firefighter Combat Challenge World Champions in both 2004 and 2005; and, most recently, the 6th Air Refueling Squadron won the AMC Spaatz Trophy for the best air refueling squadron in the Air Force. 

The past couple years also brought some major changes for the Travis Team including the stand-up of the 615th Contingency Response Wing, the transition of the 21st Airlift Squadron from a C-5 Galaxy to a C-17 Globemaster III squadron, and soon the stand up of both Reserve and active-duty C-17 maintenance squadrons. 

And, there have been many major structural changes including the opening of the redesigned gates, a new world-class visitor’s quarters, new construction supporting the incoming C-17s, and a new tribute to our AF heritage with the magnificent display on the corner of Burgan and Travis, our first C-141, The Golden Bear. 

It has truly been a fantastic tour! Thank you all for your continued support of Travis, our Airmen, our families and our nation. May God bless all of you and the United States of America.