Secretary Wynne salutes Airmen

  • Published
  • By Janie Santos
  • Air Force News Agency
SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) --  In the latest Letter to Airmen, the secretary of the Air Force salutes all those who provide support to operations around the globe. 

"I am continually amazed at the Air Force's ability to project combat power to any spot in the world from non-deployed locations," Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne said. 

Secretary Wynne said that Airmen are conducting network-enabled intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions every hour of the day from worldwide locations using Predators, Reapers and Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles to support combat operations wherever they are needed.

"Mobility Airmen provide airlift, tanker and aeromedical bridges that deliver joint personnel and equipment rapidly to, from and throughout the AOR," he said. "This combination of reachback and mobility decreases the number of Airmen deployed and saves lives by drastically reducing the number of ground force convoys required to travel on dangerous roads, as well as getting the injured to medical facilities rapidly."

The secretary said that Airmen recently played a key role in destroying an uncontrollable National Reconnaissance Office satellite on a trajectory to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere with 1,000 pounds of toxic fuel onboard by providing targeting information and space situational awareness. 

"Although media attention focused on the missile launch and intercept phase, this amazing achievement would not have been possible without the diligence and expertise of the professional Total Force Airmen who brought Air Force space and cyberspace capabilities to bear, " he said. 

Secretary Wynne's Letter to Airmen along with other senior viewpoints are found in the Library section of Air Force Link.

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