CSAF visits Moody Airmen

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Nicholas Benroth
  • 23rd Wing Public Affairs
MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFNS) --  Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz and his wife Suzie spent Jan. 18 visiting the Airmen of Moody Air Force Base.

Schwartz, along with 23rd Wing Commander Col. Billy Thompson and 93rd Air Ground Operations Wing Commander Col. Scott Kindsvater, spent the day touring the base and meeting with Airmen to discuss the Air Force and its future.

"This is a great base with great people and, importantly, a great mission," Schwartz said in an interview during his visit. He called the close air support, force protection and personnel recovery missions at Moody "a great combination" and said he was impressed by the motivated people he met all across the base.

Schwartz had the opportunity to see first-hand the capabilities of the 23rd WG and 93rd AGOW, and how the Airmen support one another by combining their different capabilities. He said Moody's team excelled at its diverse mission areas, to include the ability to coordinate close air support with joint and partner ground forces.

"This is what we call the air-ground interface, and that interface is practiced here at Moody better than almost any other place," Schwartz said. "Doing this well means that we support our joint teammates in exactly the way they need, while minimizing the likelihood of collateral damage or unintended effects. This is what happens at Moody."

Moody's population of approximately 6,000 Airmen includes a wide range of Air Force specialties, all of which are vital to Air Force operations at home and overseas. Schwartz met with Airmen who recently returned from a deployment, and talked with them about the high operations tempo.

"Just look at the deployment rates here in every discipline, from the medics, to the maintainers, the base defenders and so on," Schwartz said. "You just had elements from Moody return as the last people on the ground in Iraq, and I don't doubt that will probably be true in Afghanistan as well."

The general had the opportunity to talk with Airmen from all the different career fields at Moody, from the flight line to the food line, and offered one piece of advice to the Airmen.

"Keep your promises -- trust is the one thing that is so important to all of us in the Air Force and across our services," Schwartz said. "The way one builds trust is to keep one's promises in matters both large and small."

Schwartz wrapped up his visit to Moody by taking the opportunity to address Moody Airmen during an all-call, focusing his comments on budget, force management, air expeditionary force rotations and suicide prevention.

"It was our honor to host General Schwartz and his wife Suzie here at Moody," Thompson said. "General Schwartz seemed to enjoy the opportunity to learn of our mission and meet the Team Moody Airmen. We valued his time and discussion of Air Force priorities."