USAFCENT commander visits deployed Airmen on Christmas Eve

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Rachel Martinez
  • 455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (AFNS) --  Much like Santa Claus pays a visit to boys and girls around the world on Christmas Eve, U.S. Air Forces Central leaders visited deployed Airmen here Dec. 24.

Instead of presents, Lt. Gen. Gary North, USAFCENT commander, and Chief Master Sgt. Scott Dearduff, USAFCENT command chief, handed out words of gratitude and encouragement to Airmen spending the holiday season away from home.

"There is a special thing about working on a special day," said General North to a group of Airmen. "We'll step across on the 25th (of December) a little bit harder than any other day because we know what we are doing is important and needs to be done."

"While we miss this side of the family," said Chief Deardruff as he pointed to the nametape on his uniform, "we are with this side of the family," and pointed to the U.S. Air Force nametape. "We are all here for each other and part of a larger family."

General North and Chief Dearduff visited offices comprising one or two Airmen and flights made up of several dozen. They visited the two-man finance team who handles the wing's budget, and the manpower team who is busy arranging airflow for the AEF rotation and working requests for an increase of deployed Airmen. 

They received a post brief from a security forces Airman guarding the flightline, and stopped by the post office where a small team of Airmen handle more than 1,000 pieces of mail a day. Airmen in the Operations Support Squadron recited the Airman's Creed for them, and they found out the forecast for Santa's travels from the weather flight. 

While visiting the force protection flight, General North and Chief Dearduff had the honor of meeting Airmen who arrived in theater the day before and Airmen on their way back home.

"The job you do is very, very important," General North told the Airmen. "It's not the most exciting, but it is the most critical. For every local national working on the installation, we have to have you watching them. We don't have enough uniforms to be able to do all the work ourselves, nor do we want to. By giving the Afghans a job on this base, we are helping them provide for their families."

Airmen in the aerial port flight serviced more than 700 aircraft and processed 15,600 short tons of cargo and more than 24,000 passengers in the last month. General North and Chief Dearduff stopped by the passenger terminal to greet the many Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines transiting through. They also heard plans for a redesign of the terminal to better accommodate the large flow of passengers and cargo.

"It's all about customer service, how we welcome them in and take care of those folks who are about to go home," said General North. "Taking care of people is our most important job and that's what you are doing here."

Many Airmen now deploy in Joint Expeditionary Taskings. These Airmen fill critical roles and missions outside of their core competency. The USAFCENT commander and command chief visited such Airmen at the 755th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, the local Armed Forces Network station, and Task Force Paladin.

Following their visit to Bagram, the USAFCENT leaders planned to visit more Airmen deployed in Afghanistan and throughout the area of responsibility.

"There are a couple of things you'll never forget," the General told a group of Airmen. "Number one: your first combat deployment. Number two: the people you served with. Know that I am proud of what you do and proud of how you do it. Each time you (deploy) you go home stronger, prouder."

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