ACC vice commander visits Tyndall

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Rachelle Elsea
  • 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  In an effort to familiarize himself with the newest member of Air Combat Command, Lt. Gen. William Rew, ACC vice commander, paid Tyndall a visit from Jan. 31 through Feb. 1 .

"We were excited at the opportunity to showcase Tyndall's Airmen and mission to our leadership," said Col. David Graff, 325th Fighter Wing commander. "The base has so much to offer."

This was the general's initial visit since the transition from Air Education and Training Command, which occurred on Oct. 1, 2012.

His itinerary began with a F-4 Phantom flight at the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group, 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron, a tenant unit here from the 53rd Wing out of Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The 82nd ATRS operates the Defense Department's only full-scale aerial target program, maintaining an inventory of 50 modified QF-4 Phantom II aircraft.

"It was great to show Lt. Gen. Rew the vital job the 53rd WEG accomplishes at Tyndall, said Col. Mark O'Laughlin, 325th FW vice commander, "and to highlight the importance in ensuring ACC utilizes the remaining 41 QF-4s prior to the standup of the QF-16."

General Rew also spent some time at the 325th FW headquarters.

"We wanted to give him an overview of the mission, the F-22 Raptor beddown, our environmental status and a few other hot topics," Colonel Graff said. "He was very pleased with everything we presented to him and is confident the base is moving in the right direction as we prepare to expand our mission to support our Airmen, who are working extremely hard to improve F-22 reliability, train the newest F-22 pilots and prepare the base to protect combat power."

As a culmination of his first day, General Rew also toured the 325th Training Support Squadron. The 325th TRSS is responsible for managing training resources and conducting academic and realistic simulator training to F-22 pilots, air battle managers and intelligence officers.

On his second and final day, the general spent the remainder of his day at Continental United States North American Aerospace Defense Command Region, First Air Force, Air Forces Northern, also a Tyndall tenant unit. Their sole responsibility is ensuring the air sovereignty and air defense of the continental United States, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

"Overall, the tour was a huge success," Colonel O'Laughlin said. "We were able to show how Tyndall is preparing to transition to deploy and project combat power."