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New facility supports Total Force Integration

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Samantha S. Crane
  • 375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  A new chapter in the Air Force's Total Force Integration efforts began at Scott Air Force Base Sept. 20 as the base celebrated the official opening of its newest 52,000-square-foot Operations Facility, which houses both active duty and Reserve members serving side-by-side to achieve both flying and command and control missions.

The building will house the 54th Airlift Squadron and the 73rd Airlift Squadron (Reserve), who will work together to perform DV airlift missions aboard C-9 and C-40 aircraft.

"Our missions have spanned the spectrum from nine missions supporting the First Lady to 10 missions supporting Haiti and the gulf oil spill--and everything in between," said Col. William H. Edwards, Jr., 932nd AW commander.

The facility will also house a combined Command Post operated by members from the 932nd Airlift Wing (Reserve) and 375th Air Mobility Wing.

"This structure will help further strengthen the cohesiveness of these active duty and Reserve flying squadrons because they will now be able to work together on the ground just as they do in the air," said Colonel Edwards.

Col. Michael Hornitschek, 375th AMW commander, added that it will serve as a gathering place "for amazing Reserve and active duty Airmen to make history as Total Force Integration was intended to be."

Congressman Jerry Costello (D-IL) attended the ribbon cutting ceremony, as well as representatives from local and state government, and was instrumental in securing the federal fund to the project.

"Two years ago we broke ground on this project, and today we are celebrating the opening of this beautiful new facility for the hard working men and women at Scott," said Congressman Costello. "The base continues to grow, and the Operations Building is one more important development. I am committed to doing everything I can to assist the base because its future is a vital component both in our nation's defense and in our regional economy."

Among the happy occupants are the members of the command post and wing plans teams.

"Moving to the new location was a long-awaited change that will benefit us in a number of ways," said Maj. Jeff Roper, 375th AMW Command Post chief "Most immediately obvious is the drastic improvement to morale and quality of work-life that a new, modern facility offers. Beyond that, we've been able to integrate updated technology and new infrastructure in a way that will enable us to offer world-class command and control services to warfighters and combat enablers well into the foreseeable future."

Paul Kineke, 375th AMW chief of Wing Operations Plans and the Crisis Action Team manager, said his new space is bigger and better because they were able to upgrade their technology and access for wing leadership.

"With this new technology, we will have better situational awareness and ability to control base resources for contingency and disaster or emergency events," he said.