Fourteenth AF commander visits Peterson

Published Jan. 27, 2009
By Thea Skinner
21st Space Wing Public Affairs

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- On Jan. 20, Team Pete was honored to have a visit from Lt. Gen. Larry James, commander of 14th Air Force and the Joint Functional Component Command for Space, and his wife, Susan.

General and Mrs. James traveled here from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., for their first official visit to America's Space Superiority Wing. The visit consisted of a full day of briefings, unit tours and "meet and greets" with many 21st Space Wing members.
The visit began with breakfast at the Aragon Dining Facility with 27 junior Airmen.

"It is always energizing to see the folks who are new to the Air Force, to hear what they are doing and the excitement they are having in their job," General James said. "As I have told folks here today - a lot of this is about serving and taking care of our families. Whether you are TDY, deployed or working long hours in the office, if the family is not taken care of and the family is not happy, you are going to have a tough time doing your job right."

Breakfast was followed by a multitude of activities to include tours of the Child Development Center annex and the Tierra Vista privatized housing project. General James also received a wing mission brief from Col. Jay Raymond, 21st Space Wing commander, and a Defense Biometric Identification System (DBIDS) briefing from Security Forces.

During a working luncheon with wing leadership, General James was briefed on many of the wing's Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century initiatives, which involve an eight-step problem solving process that creates new efficiencies and eliminates waste.
"This wing is one of the premier wings in 14th Air Force in terms of leading the way with a lot of great ideas," General James said. "AFSO21 is about common sense and how to do things better. Frankly, if there is not a push to figure out how we can do things better, we will just continue to do things the way we always have."

Although General and Mrs. James' tours had different itineraries, both visited the Airmen and Family Readiness Center.

While at the center, they were introduced to the many services the 21st SW provides for Airmen and their family members on matters associated with readiness and deployments. Among these benefits was the wing's new Deployed Connection web address, which the general said would become a benchmark for the rest of the numbered air force wings.

Before taking a windshield tour of Pete East and the new 76th Space Control Squadron building, General James briefed 21st SW personnel during a commander's call at the base auditorium, where he outlined three focus areas for 14th AF:

- Increased support for the combatant commander
- Increased command and control for Joint Space Operations Center
- Enhancing integration

Additionally, General James challenged the wing to address these focus areas with innovative ideas.

"You are the folks with great ideas; think about how we can get that information out. You each have a role to play," he said.

Having Airmen who understand the systems they operate daily provide ideas that foster efficiency will help us accomplish the mission under current budget constraints, said the general.

"There is going to be a lot of pressure on the military and government in terms of the dollars we are asking for to execute our missions; so figuring out how to do things smarter is absolutely essential," he said. "The mission is not going to change...the mission will probably continue to grow."

Upon the conclusion of General James' commander's call, Colonel Raymond presented him with a statue of Iron Mike, the 21st SW mascot, on behalf of the wing, as a symbol of appreciation for taking time to come to Peterson and see first hand how America's Space Superiority Wing does business.