AMC commander shares passion for Rodeo

  • Published
  • By Michael Tolzmann
  • Air Force News Agency
MCCHORD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. (AFPN) --  The commander of Air Mobility Command shared his thoughts about the importance of Rodeo 2007, the international mobility air forces readiness competition held July 22 to 27 at McChord Air Force Base.

Gen. Duncan J. McNabb and AMC sponsored the competition designed to improve technical abilities through approximately 25 evaluated events on the ground and in the air. 

American teams from bases worldwide, along with teams from Belgium, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are tested and points are assigned for completing ground and air skills correctly. Aircrews focus on combat skills, such as precision airdrops, aerial refueling, assault landings, and aeromedical evacuation. Maintenance events include aircraft inspections, repair, and aircraft launch and recovery. Aerial port events test the speed and accuracy of loading and unloading cargo. Security forces are tested with a combat endurance course, and tactics and weapons competitions. 

In an interview with the Air Force News Agency, General McNabb gave some insight into Rodeo 2007 and the value of having the competition.

Why conduct an air rodeo?

The purpose of Rodeo is to take our air mobility forces to the next level. There are a lot of things that go into that. When you think about the air bridge, the tanker bridge, the aeromedical bridge, you think of 900 sorties a day in defense of this great country and freedom around the world. And you think always of how we can make it better.

How do we take this great enterprise that we've been entrusted with and take it to the next step? By bringing the best of the best together here in competition, and allow them to learn from each other, to talk to each other, and maybe have some fun together. And what you find is, it builds on itself. And that is the spirit of Rodeo.

Not only do we have the total force -- the active duty, Guard and Reserve -- but then you bring in allies and friends from other countries that come in here and participate. It allows us to share with them as well, and for them to share with us. Everybody learns from each other. Everyone enjoys each other and you build relationships that will last a lifetime and take us into the future.

What do participants gain from the competition?

They learn a lot of things. They get to see the best of the best from the other wings and from around the world. Because each is the best from their wing, or in some cases, the best their nation has to offer.

And of course, the spirit of competition allows everybody to learn from each other, and competition pushes you to figure out ways to make yourself better. That is the greatest part to watch in all of this.

I got to go out and fly with a C-17 (Globemaster III) crew this morning. We went out, started off with a low-level flight, and to an airdrop, to an assault landing into a small strip, and then took off and did an air refueling, and then back to McChord AFB where we did an engine running offload.

We got to see the whole gamut. All of the missions they have, and to watch a crew take it through its paces and the whole time they're being graded on how precise they are, how well they did that job. The differences are so small, that it really does bring the best out of them, and you can feel it.

And you know they have practiced. You know they've worked very hard together. And they know they're in competition with a same kind of person from another base. It is awesome.

Then you throw in the international side. Countries will send in teams that will take part in the competition, and then there are some others who are observers. They come and see what they can learn, which we share with them. We say, "Come and see what we do." And hopefully we can learn from you and you can learn from us, and then maybe next time you'll want to send a team to be able to participate. You can imagine what this does for our friendships around the world.

What is unique or special about Rodeo 2007?

Probably the biggest thing is the 60th anniversary of our Air Force.

From the global reach side, that is the air bridge, the tanker bridge, that is the air medical bridge. We reach out to make sure that not only do we show the compassion -- the humanitarian friendship of the American people -- but also go and fight and win the nation's wars. That's what the global reach portion of this is. We always want to make sure we focus on that.

And so when you think about the 60th anniversary and the celebration of our great Air Force and what we are trying to do for this great cause of freedom, this is our part on the global reach side to say, "OK, here's our celebration."

And our celebration is not (just) to look to the past and say here is the great legacy and foundation that we have, the great heritage that we are building on, but also how it fits into the joint fight. How does it fit into our ability to influence events around the world?

So from my standpoint, this is the perfect celebration, because it is about taking us to the next level. It is about trying to figure out how we can do it better with what we've been entrusted with by the American people.

And as I look to our friends and allies around the world who have joined us, we could be asked at any time to come together as a coalition, as friends and allies and say we need to come and answer our nation's call or join together to help needy people around the world. And this allows us to work together and see what we can do better. And from my standpoint, the 60th anniversary of the Air Force ... is the perfect time for us to celebrate this.

We've been at war longer than in World War II. And there are tremendous lessons learned. We have the most combat-ready force that we've ever had in our mobility air forces. They are superb at what they do. They're doing it day in and day out, 900 sorties a day. About every 90 seconds an airplane is taking off or landing somewhere around the world with that beautiful American flag on its tail. And where it lands, it doesn't just represent America. To the people watching, it is America. And what we want to do is make sure we're taking full advantage of that, and sharing that, and saying, "How can we do even better with this?"

I've gotten to see many of our air mobility warriors. I've gotten to see how they do it. And you watch them, and they are so superb. And they're ready to learn to figure out the next challenge that they will have.

To me, as the commander of the Air Mobility Command, it's the part that makes this all worthwhile. To watch these great, young Americans, who (answered) when the nation said, "Who shall we send? Who will go for us?"

We've got an awful lot of great Americans who raised their hands and said, "Here I am, send me." How does it get any better than that? And I get to be around them. This is awesome.

What do participants and observers take away from the Rodeo?

If you think about who comes to Rodeo ... they come from the Guard, the Reserve, active duty and other countries. And they represent their wing. They represent their squadron. They represent their command and they represent in some cases their nation. And you bring them together, and they are the champions ... and you have a competition for the best of the best. That competition with each other is what takes everybody to a different level.

It's the small things -- the learning from each other, or learning a technique -- an airmanship that allows them to say, "Here's another way that I might be able to do this even more safely and with better mission effectiveness than what we've been doing."

It is the flying, and then sitting around after competing in an event, and sitting down and comparing notes, and (saying), "Here's something that we tried."

The other (thing) that (Rodeo) does is the camaraderie that comes from being around these great folks. These folks have dedicated their lives to the cause of freedom. And it's really tremendous to watch the relationships grow and thrive. That's the part that I've looked at. And we get other countries to come and participate in this. We make lasting relationships with people that are also interested in how do we take air mobility and make it even better than it is today.

They are so awesome at what they do. And that's what this is about. It's mentorship across the board -- mentorship up, mentorship down and mentorship with each other. And we all have great fun as we're doing it as well.

It's especially fitting on the 60th anniversary, and take this crown jewel we call global reach for America to the next level. It's an awesome part of this great celebration. And it really is a celebration in excellence. 

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