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New 19th Air Force commander visits Tyndall

  • Published
  • 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Major General Mark Solo, 19th Air Force commander, and his wife, Patty, made their first official visit to Tyndall Sept. 9-10 since taking command in July.

"My wife and I are thrilled to be here," said General Solo. "As a young lieutenant, Patty was trained as a weapons controller here at Tyndall and is especially excited about coming back to see the base."

The General was equally enthusiastic about the visit. "I have visited Tyndall a few times, my most recent being five years ago."

"Having visited several 19 AF bases already, I am impressed at how enthusiastic our people are about the mission," he added.

Nineteenth Air Force has 38,000 people assigned in more than 200 career fields and General Solo hopes to meet as many of them as he possibly can.

"What I am looking forward to most is meeting Airmen and their families," General Solo said.

Equally important to the general is taking care of Airmen by ensuring they have the tools to succeed and the quality of life they deserve.

"We are always looking to attain the resources Airmen and their families need to successfully execute our mission," said General Solo. "We must also allow our Airmen to grow professionally and present opportunities for them to further their education. This is an important part of our mission."

The command deployed 2,100 Airmen last year and, so far, more than 900 this year.

"I think a lot of people think when you go to AETC you don't deploy. It is absolutely the opposite of that, we do deploy," General Solo said. "We need to work to prepare our Airmen and to make sure they have the resources and the training needed to be successful during these deployments."

Last year, 19th Air Force trained over 30,600 students, including 1,860 graduates from special operations, and more than 600 fighter pilots.

"My primary focus as a commander will be to provide the leadership and the top cover our wings and units need to successfully execute their training missions," said General Solo. "We have had nearly 300 days without a Class A mishap that resulted in a lost aircraft or fatality."

AETC has not had a fatality since November 21 2009. The previous fatality free streak in AETC was 250 days between July 17, 1992 and March 24, 1993.

"That is something that I think we can all be very proud of and it is also a record-setting number. We are succeeding," he said. "My challenge will be to provide the leadership so we can continue with such great success."

The general also outlined his expectations.

"I want to continue to safely execute our flying training and standardization mission and to be open to transitions and transformations," said General Solo. "My ultimate goal is to make sure we are providing the very best combat aviators, air battle managers, and Airmen for the future."