Face 2013 in 908th fashion

  • Published
  • By Col. Brett Clark
  • 908th Airlift Wing
MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. --  Face 2013 in 908th fashionIs it December again already? Wow, how time flies by!

Reviewing the past year, undoubtedly the biggest news came Feb. 3 with the Force Structure Announcement proposing the possible loss of our aircraft. Fortunately, it now appears the excellence and value of the 908th has driven another look from the DoD and our political leaders.

Today, I can report that we are not out of the woods yet, but there have been some very hopeful indicators that our value has been recognized and the probability of our unit remaining in place has increased significantly.

The other major event for us this year was our Combined Unit Inspection. Our overall grades and stellar performance validated our commitment to excellence and reinforced our case to remain an active flying organization well into the future. To round out the year in review, I have to mention our successfully Coronet Oak deployment and our cvil engineer war fighters' deployment to the Afghanistan Area of Responsibility.

As we look to 2013, we will be deploying aircraft, crews and maintainers to CENTCOM in January. Approximately 100 Airmen from ops and maintenance will be tying up loose ends in preparation for their upcoming deployments. I ask both our deployers and those assisting them to ensure requirements are accomplished during the Dec and Jan UTAs.
This will allow everyone an opportunity to comfortably throttle back and enjoy the holidays instead of scrambling to complete out-processing checklists.

In the spring our AES is slated to deploy, and in September, we will have our first major exercise to prepare for the Operational Readiness Inspection in January 2015. I know that event will be a crowd pleaser!

The coming year will surely present numerous challenges and unknowns due to budget crisis, force structure cuts, and the growing demand to do more with less. But you have consistently risen to every challenge with confidence, excellence and unquestioned success.

That is our greatest legacy -- to succeed at all cost.

In closing, I would just like to say enjoy your squadron Christmas parties and start the holiday season right with an eye on safety while flying top cover as good wingmen. I personally look forward to seeing you at the various events and sharing some holiday cheer.

I wish all of you and yours a very Merry Christmas and the happiest of New Years!