18th Air Force commander visits Travis Published July 4, 2006 By Tech. Sgt. Donald Osborn 60th AMW Public Affairs TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The 18th Air Force commander visited here June 21 completing a tour of 12 wings, three groups and two EMTF's under his command. Maj. Gen. James A. Hawkins was briefed by the members of the 15th Expeditionary Mobility Task Force and the 615th Contingency Response Wing on current issues concerning their respective missions. As the commander of Air Mobility Command's warfighting numbered air force, the general gave his personal thanks to the troops for their sacrifices and had a few other words to tell them. "I want you to know, what you do is very important," said General Hawkins, referring to the specific missions of both the 15th EMTF and the 615th CRW. The 615th CRW reports directly to the 15th EMTF and it has a primary mission to employ rapidly deployable cross-functional teams to quickly open forward airbases in an expeditionary environment to meet the combatant commander's needs. In addition, the 615th CRW employs mission-ready airfield assessment teams, airfield operations, command and control, aerial port and aircraft maintenance personnel. The 15th EMTF and the 615th CRW have played a constant and vital role in the Global War on Terrorism. "It's not an exaggeration to say that when I'm watching CNN, the odds are that one of two [expeditionary mobility task forces] of the 18th Air Force and the [615th CRW] will be embodied wherever that mission is, and you all are the ones that make that happen," said General Hawkins. "You make it happen 24/7, 365 and that's crucial to the mission. I want you to know how much I appreciate that." General Hawkins also took the opportunity to pass along to the troops the appreciation from his superiors. "General [Duncan] McNabb, the Air Mobility Command commander and General [Norton] Schwartz, the U.S. Transportation Command commander, wants you to know how much they appreciate what you do," said General Hawkins. AMC falls under the command of the USTRANSCOM, one of only nine of the unified combatant commands of the Department of Defense. Both commands are headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Ill. After congratulating the troops on their efforts to complete any mission that comes their way, General Hawkins opened the floor for personal questions and concerns affecting them. This was the fourth visit to Travis by General Hawkins this year. In January, General Hawkins and his wife, Linda, met with Travis Airmen and community leaders on his first stop on a tour of all the bases in his command. General Hawkins and his wife visited several base events here, including the Junior and Senior Summit during their January tour.