3rd AF commander visits Aviano AB, hosts all call

by Staff Sgt. R.J. Biermann
31st Fighter Wing Public Affairs

10/9/2014 - AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy -- Lt. Gen. Darryl Roberson, 3rd Air Force commander, and Chief Master Sgt. Mark Marson, 3rd Air Force command chief, visited Aviano Air Base, Italy, Oct. 8, 2014, to meet Airmen assigned to the 31st Fighter Wing and become more familiar with the wing mission.

During his first visit to Aviano as the 3rd Air Force commander, Roberson and Marson visited several units, and hosted an all call.

To welcome Roberson and Marson, a hangar filled with Team Aviano Airmen sounded off with the wing's new mission statement, "Deter aggression. Defend U.S. and NATO interests. Develop Aviano."

"Nice. I like it," Roberson said. "Chief and I are really glad to be here. Let me start by saying thank you ... not only for getting the mission done, but for how you're doing it. You guys are doing an absolutely outstanding job and we're seeing it every day.

"There's a lot going on in our Air Force," he continued. "There's a lot going on here and in Africa, and in many ways, you take part in it every single day."

During the all call, Roberson touched on several key issues. One particular issue discussed, was the Air Force's reduction in force.

"We're on our way to 310,000 Airmen," Roberson said. "We're doing more, we're doing it better, and we're still the best Air Force the world has ever known."

Marson included that, "We're more capable today than we've ever been. We go to large extents to develop our Airmen and that's how we're going to reach 310,000. We're smarter than we've ever been. Look at the changes as an opportunity, if you do what your nation asks, it'll work out for you."

During the commander's call, Roberson stressed the importance of the new performance report program and getting to know our Airmen.

"With the new [system] we're trying to get back to eyeball-to-eyeball ... intrusive leadership," Roberson said. "Ninety percent of Airmen feel the EPR system is overinflated, and we need to get back to better supervising our Airmen."

Marson announced that he was nearly 50 days from retirement and thanked Aviano Airmen for their sacrifices.

"Thank you for being the one percent of Americans who've put on the uniform," he said. "It's difficult to raise a family, develop yourself ... and go into harm's way, all while keeping balance. I have a deep respect for [you] American's in uniform."

After fielding a handful of questions from the audience, Roberson had one final thought to share.

"I'm asking you to work hard and maintain our readiness," he said. "If you do this, you'll continue to exceed our expectations every day."