Everyone is needed to accomplish the mission

  • Published
  • By Barry Kistler
  • 90th Missile Wing director of staff
F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. --  I sit at my desk each day, amazed at what takes place on this base and at what the people of this wing do each day. I wonder if people really know the full impact of what they do to support the mission. Last Friday, as I sat at my desk thinking about this, was no different.

We were very fortunate to have General C. Robert Kehler, commander of Air Force Space Command, address hundreds of members of Twentieth Air Force and the Mighty Ninety in an all call Nov. 13. This was his farewell to the wing as we transition to Air Force Global Strike Command. One of his comments really struck home with me, and that was the dedication to our mission that is portrayed day in and day out by all members of 20th Air Force.

While General Kehler was conducting his all call, we had another group of folks getting an orientation to our ICBM mission. Additionally, we had seven U.S. Senate staff delegation members visiting the base. These folks work the military issues for the senators they work for and were here to gain insight to what we do every day. What they learned in a few short hours will help our elected leaders of Congress gain a much better appreciation for the work service members do and the level of perfection required to do that work.

At the same time, Brig. Gen. Timothy Byers, the Air Force civil engineer, was getting a tour of Warren. He learned firsthand of the challenges that a 142-year-old base faces, especially in our historic brick buildings and very old infrastructure. I'm confident he will go back to the Pentagon and lobby for additional support in the way of finance and resources to help to operate this base.

For each of these three visits, we had a project officer assigned to hammer out the hundreds of details associated with a visit. Protocol supported each visit to ensure everything went smoothly. Transportation provided vehicles and drivers to move our visitors around. Lodging ensured their rooms were ready and comfortable. And each place they visited, a myriad of tasks had to be performed by hundreds of our Airmen to ensure the visits went off like clockwork. Believe me, it doesn't matter if it is one person visiting or ten. Each visit contains a lot of moving parts, and it takes a lot of people to make sure the visit is successful. This wing knows how to do that.

Later that day, the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce, Military Affairs Committee held their monthly luncheon at the Trail's End Club. We had about 72 downtown civilians, military from the Army Guard, Air Guard, Navy Reserves and active-duty military and civilians from the base. Colonel Scott Fox, 20th Air Force, presented the 20th Air Force mission briefing. Forums such as this provide civilians, which are our supporters, with our current operational mission and up to date status of our ICBM posture. This relationship goes a long way to support each other.

All while these important visits were going on, we sent 30 crew members on alert relieving our already 30 crew members who were coming off alert. We had 15 facility managers and 15 chefs providing support at our isolated missile alert facilities. Also at the MAFs, 90 security forces members were providing 24-hour security vigilance in our 9,600 square-mile missile complex.

On the maintenance side, Nov. 13 was another routine day. We had seven penetrated sites, and an open launcher. Our 35 or so, maintenance technicians chased power problems, changed out post boost control systems and pulled a missile. An additional 30 security force members supported them and provided security.

Did I mention the 24-hour work centers on base like the command post; fire department; law enforcement; wing security control; missile security control; transportation control center; the lodging office; and the many others on call, ready to respond at a moment's notice? At this time of year, we also have our snow control folks standing by to work continuously through any snow event ensuring our roads and parking lots are open for travel and accessible.

Throughout that particular day, I dealt with issues involving the mission support group, the medical group and the wing staff agencies. All issues support the mission of this base.

So, where is the mission? The visible part of our mission is in the missile complex at 150 launch facilities and 15 MAFs. But, without the on-base professional Airmen, both enlisted and officer, and our civilians, the obvious mission would not be able to be performed.

When I think about the mission of this base, I'm amazed at how complicated, intricate, and detailed that mission is. The people of this wing collectively perform the mission with perfection, providing pre-eminent combat capability across the spectrum of conflict.