COMUSAFE discusses budget cuts, future plans during visit to Turkey

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Kali L. Gradishar
  • 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey --  Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, U.S. Air Forces in Europe commander, travelled through Turkey visiting service members of the 39th Air Base Wing and the 425th Air Base Squadron, a
geographically-separated unit in Izmir, Turkey. 

Welsh, an enthusiastic proponent of ensuring Airmen are well cared for, visited the installations to thank Airmen and civilians, as well as their family members, for their commitment. He also shared his knowledge of recent and upcoming changes at the wing, command, Air Force and Department of Defense levels.

The USAFE commander met with Airmen in various squadrons and toured operations, as well as viewed recent changes to quality-of-life projects on base.

"You're not going to meet another man who cares more about Airmen," said Col. Chris Craige, the 39th ABW commander, as he introduced the USAFE commander to members of  team Incirlik at the full-to-capacity Club Complex ballroom.

"It's a real thrill for me to be here at Incirlik and have the chance to talk to you a little bit," Welsh said. "This wing has a history of doing new missions, recurring missions, old missions  that become fashionable again, and doing them all really, really well." 

Welsh praised Incirlik as the Air Force's second largest fuel operation and largest disbursing agency, as an installation with countless mission inspections and for bringing in an abundance of USAFE and Air Force level awards garnered by individuals and units.

"You've got a lot of talent here," he said, and "I'm here primarily to say thank you for the work you do, for the sacrifices you make. Many of you are away from your families. All of you are a long way from home, some for the first time."

"Your work here is critically important and it has a big impact," the general added.

The USAFE commander described changes occurring on many levels, to include the new global strategy directing where the Defense Department is heading in the future.

"If you're in the U.S. military and you're assigned to the Pacific, you might leave, but the unit and mission are probably going to stay. The forces we have remaining in the Middle East  following our drawdown in Afghanistan will remain in place. In Europe, we will maintain our strategic partnerships," he explained. "We don't have closer allies than the ones here."

In Africa and Latin America, the global strategy indicates we will rely on "low footprint, low cost approaches," he said.

He also discussed topics affecting the entire Air Force, as well as individual Airmen, including service member and civilian force shaping and deployments.

"Force shaping is not a new concept. It will need to be done in the future, as well," Welsh said. "There will continue to be a need for involuntary measures. It's hard on everybody."

"Since Congress does not provide funds to support more than 332,800 active-duty Air Force members, we can no longer use our already reduced budget to pay for any number of  Airmen above that number."

With the smaller budget and smaller force, "DOD will not be configured to perform long-term stability operations," Welsh said. The new strategy does, however, stress the need for investment in key areas like science and technology.

"I don't know what's going to happen in the future. It depends on what happens with the budget. Flexibility and adaptability is going to be important," said the general.

Another change to the Air Expeditionary Force is also expected in the future. The new construct is being referred to as AEF Next, a unit-based deployment program aimed at maintaining home station leadership, supervision and peer relationships while at the deployed location.

Additional changes currently affecting and expected to affect Airmen in upcoming years include changes to professional development, graduation events, conference attendance, printing of professional education materials, fitness assessment cells and testing and hopefully resolutions to the additional duty predicament.

"In search of more efficient activities and operations and better spending, we have consolidated lots of things in the Air Force. We've centralized functions, we've regionalized them, we've cut them, we've tried to replace them with automation," Welsh said. "When all those well-intentioned changes come together at the squadron level, there are some dramatic consequences."

"Some of the cuts result in duties that are no longer in anyone's job description. Some of these are not really additional duties; they're full-time jobs," Welsh said. "The work hasn't gone away, just the positions to do it. This is what's happening in our squadrons across the Air Force."

Welsh encouraged Incirlik Airmen to bring issues, such as these, up their chains of command to allow their voices to be heard.

"If you have examples from your squadrons that will help me highlight and explain this problem, I need them," said the general. "We can break all the staffs in the world, but if we break the squadron we're in trouble. It is still the foundational unit of Air Force capability and you guys deserve the support you need to get the mission done. "

Welsh closed by expressing his appreciation for the sacrifices and commitment to service noticed at Incirlik. 

"Thanks for what you do. Thanks for doing it so well. It's just an honor to serve with you," he said.