USAFE-AFAFRICA commander talks force management at NATO base

by Staff Sgt. Christopher Ruano
52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs

3/28/2014 - NATO AIR BASE GEILENKIRCHEN, Germany -- The U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa commander visited the 470th Air Base Squadron at NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen, March 24, 2014.

The visit gave Gen. Frank Gorenc a chance to experience firsthand the squadron's community and mission of supporting the NATO E-3A Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System.

The squadron's unique mission fulfills Gorenc's vision of ready Airmen integrating with allies and partners in conducting missions ranging from humanitarian relief to combat operations using command and control assets.

"I travel a lot because we have lots of Airmen all over both continents (Europe and Africa) and many of them are assigned to many small units like this one," Gorenc said. "Every opportunity I have to visit a NATO base, I like to get together with the Airmen to make myself available to answer questions."

Gorenc spoke with the Airmen on topics ranging from current world events to the financial situation affecting the Air Force and force management.

"Inside of that budget we made a commitment to a balanced Air Force that's not hollow - that's the strategic way of saying the Air Force is getting smaller," Gorenc said.

Getting smaller consists of reducing the Air Force's active-duty end strength by approximately 16,700 in fiscal 2015 and removing up to 550 aircraft from the fleet over a five-year span, Gorenc said.

"There is a lot of misinformation out there on the internet with respect to these force management programs," Gorenc said. "This is a hard business to get exactly right. The bottom line is you need to understand that you need to be the best Airmen you can possibly be every day."

Gorenc also mentioned Airmen should communicate within the family to decide how to move forward with their options during force management.

Gorenc concluded the all-call by thanking the Airmen for their service.

"It's great having General Gorenc visit," said Senior Master Sgt. Dorothy Cole, 470th ABS superintendent from Philadelphia. "Being on a NATO base, it's kind of nice to get the Air Force perspective. Just being able to hear what he has to say first hand, I think it's great for the Airmen."

Cole said she appreciated the straight-forward communication.

"Concerning force management, I think it was nice to actually hear what he had to say versus what is being said on social media," Cole said.
"Sometimes the messages that are put out there are kind of vague, so getting it directly from him was very informative."

More than 170 Airmen and civilians make up the 470th ABS, a geographically separated unit of the 52nd Fighter Wing, Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany.