COMUSAFE visits 48 FW

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Lyndsey Horn
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  General Mark A. Welsh III, U.S. Air Forces in Europe commander, visited Airmen of the 48th Fighter Wing here, Jan. 18.

The main purpose of his visit was to inform wing members of command priorities, define the state of command, while taking the time to get to know Airmen stationed at the 48 FW.

"The most important thing you can do is be ready," he said. "I can't tell you what the next scenario is going to be. However, our Nation's leaders assume when we deploy, our forces are ready and good at what they do, as good as they have always been in the past."

Looking toward future operations and despite the fact the last troops left Iraq last month, the 48 FW can still expect to remain busy. When asked what's next, Welsh emphasized the rational of basing U.S. forces in Europe and the rapid deployment capability they provide.

"The intent of forward-based forces is to provide an option to the president of the United States to respond to a contingency situation," said Welsh. "If you want to be able to react with a no-fly zone or kinetic capability from the air within 72 to 96 hours, you have to have forces forward deployed."

Also, during his time on base, Welsh observed the wing's mission and capabilities first hand by visiting the flying squadrons, attending lunch with enlisted Airmen, meeting with deployed spouses, and hosting enlisted and officer calls.

Welsh also answered Airmen's concerns about the future of the command amidst military restructuring initiatives.

There are discussions occurring at every level about budget realities and restructuring, he said. But those are not going to alter the fact that this "will be the best Air Force in the world in the future, just as it is today," Welsh said. "That's not going to change."