AMC staff sees 'Excellence' first-hand with visit to the USAF EC

by Capt. Matthew Chism
USAF Expeditionary Center Public Affairs

12/3/2014 - JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J.  -- Twenty four Air Mobility Command staff members visited the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center to participate in an open forum here, Tuesday.

AMC staff members received a mission briefing, an overview of the USAF Expeditionary Operations School, educational demonstrations, and exchanged ideas about the future of education and training at the USAF EC.

"A number of us were discussing how many things the EC is involved in as we walked to the demos," said Brig. Gen. Kory Cornum, AMC command surgeon. "Thank you to all of your folks. Thank you for being persistent to get this group here because we have all really gained a lot of understanding about the EC from this trip."

The USAF EC is the Air Force's Center of Excellence for educating and training General Purpose and Mobility Air Forces personnel across the range of expeditionary knowledge and skills. The command trains over 37,000 total force students yearly through 92 separate courses and three geographically separated units under the USAF EOS. The EC also has direct oversight for en route and installation support, contingency response and partner capacity building mission sets within the global mobility enterprise.

"We are very proud of the twenty year heritage of this organization and our mission to arm service members with the skills necessary to project rapid global mobility," said Maj. Gen. Rick Martin, USAF EC commander. "Understanding AMC warfighters' needs only enhance the support we are able to provide to the field, so having the feedback and face-to-face interaction with this group is extremely valuable."

USAF EOS cadre prepare service members to be indispensable partners in support of Combatant Commanders across multiple environments. The newly consolidated Air Force Combat Airman Skills Training course represents the most recent adjustment to training at the EC.

"AMC was vital in assisting our organization through the process of consolidating the CAST course at the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Operations School," said Col. Jay Junkins, USAF EOS commander. "We could not have achieved this without their support and we stand ready to continue to provide the highest caliber of training to ensure our general purpose forces are prepared to survive and operate in a hostile environment."

The consolidation of CAST brings all pre-deployment training for combat support personnel, more than 3,000 individuals last year, to the EC. The consolidation is expected to create fiscal and training efficiencies for the global enterprise and more consistent and adaptable training programs.

Tailored and agile course development is a cornerstone for training at the EC. Course cadre are continuously looking for updated requirements and new delivery methods to provide better overall training for service members.

"We have an initial feedback when students complete the course, another feedback four to six months after students finish our course, and we do an annual course review to ensure that we are teaching the most up to date information in all of our courses," said Master Sgt. James Harris, 423rd Mobility Training Squadron Maintenance Supervision and Production Course director. "We are also constantly in the AFI's, talking with AMC (Logistics) and people in the field to stay current. If we're not at the cutting edge with the material we are delivering, then we are failing the customer and we take that very seriously."