AMC commander visits Dover

by Tech. Sgt. Jeremy Larlee
436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

7/12/2013 - DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- Gen. Paul Selva, Air Mobility Command commander, visited here July 8-10, 2013, to get a first-hand look at Team Dover in action.

The commander visited the flightline, Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations, The Center for Families of the Fallen, the AMC Museum and talked with many Dover Airmen in the process.

"I've had a great time at Dover," he said. "The hospitality has been awesome and the professionalism I have seen is exceptional. I know how hard it is to maintain that level of excellence, but you all do it so well."

The general said visits to AMC bases are very important to him.

"The best way to see how the base is operating is to actually come out and put my eyes on the units," said Selva. "There is an incredibly great team of people from across the base that is doing everything they can to get the mission done."

Near the end of his tour the general conducted an all call at the base theater. During his introduction he shared what he views as the top priorities for Airmen: mission, professional and caring workplaces and training Airmen.

He talked about how Team Dover exemplified the dedication to mission with its support of operations in Mali.

At the request of the French government, airlift operations began Jan. 21 and the Air Force flew multiple missions under the control of U.S. Africa Command. The U.S. committed to supporting France and international partners to confront Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb, an Islamist militant organization, as well as affiliated extremists in Northern Africa.

A Team Dover C-17 Globemaster III aircrew piloted the first mission into the country.

"It is very clear to me that you are among the best the command has to offer," he said. "You broke every record I can think of and that's a testament to your professionalism."

Dover has also found itself front and center in the current retrograde mission in Afghanistan. Dover operates the largest aerial port in the Department of Defense. More than 50 percent of cargo in support of the retrograde operations moves through the "Super Port". Additionally, the C-17 and C-5M Super Galaxy will be the work horses for this operation, he said.

"Retrograde is underway and it will play out over the course of the next year and a half as we decide with the Afghan government what the final footprints of the U.S. forces in Afghanistan look like," he said.

The future will hold new challenges as well, said the general. When the retrograde winds down, AMC Airmen will have to adapt to working in a new theater, he said.

"We are going to be heading to the Pacific theater a lot more," he said "We are going to small places that you may have never heard of."

The general said another ongoing issue will be funding.

"The budget outlook is not good and we have to learn to be more efficient," he said. "In the face of the sequester, we have to decide if we cut things that are mission oriented or do we scale back on things that make us more comfortable. Preserving capability is going to be big over the next couple of years."

The general said he thinks Airmen are capable of passing these obstacles with flying colors.

"You are doing the nation's work and it is incredibly important work," he said. "There is no air force in the world that comes anywhere near us. I have traveled nearly the entire planet and seen them all. They all want to be just li