Lt. Gen. Gary L. North, 9th Air Force and U.S. Central Command Air Forces commander, shared his insight and vision for the future at the Combined Air Operations Center March 10.

During his first visit as CENTAF commander, General North discussed the CENTAF mission and challenges facing Airmen and coalition forces, while praising the work being done in the theater.

“Our Airmen and coalition partners are the leveraging tool that allows success in the battlespace. They all play a critical role in fighting both today’s and tomorrow’s war,” General North said. “From our youngest Airman all the way up to senior leaders, they bring an understanding of the technologies that we are using and their ability to operate the way we train in the warfighting environment.”

The general was impressed by the enthusiasm and professionalism of deployed Airmen.

“They are exceptional in their understanding of the mission, the processes involved in day-to-day operations and the execution we use to support CENTCOM and the ground component commanders,” he said.

The general stressed the importance of joint and coalition operations for mission success.

“We cannot fight these battles alone. It takes a tremendous combined effort that uses the capacity of each nation and service to succeed,” he said. “This allows us to have a collective understanding of air and space power, and enables us to produce hundreds of sorties each day.”

This collective understanding has also proven invaluable in our efforts to help the Iraqi Air Force rebuild.

“(The Iraqi Air Force is) a proud force. They’re excited to be flying again and eager to grow to the capacity the Iraqi military will need in the future,” General North said. “We look forward to continuing to work with them toward our common goals.”

With the gates of Al Muthana Iraqi Air Force Base now open and all-Iraqi C-130 Hercules aircrews taking flight, General North said the Iraqi Air Force is definitely making progress.

“These steps, while significant, are the first of a thousand miles,” he said. “It will take some time before they are independently effective in the large mission they have.”

With this in mind, the general said the deployment tempo for Airmen will likely remain very close to what it is today.

“We constantly look to how the battlespace is evolving and evaluate our deployment requirements in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa. We then shape our requirements to meet the needs of the ground force commander,” he said

These needs sometimes include Airmen serving in “in-lieu-of” roles ranging from convoy and patrol operations to specialized engineering and medical support.

“We’ve taken Airmen from across all domains, matched them with jobs and trained them to execute these ILO missions,” he said. “The feedback from the field is that our Airmen are doing exceptional jobs in these roles -- I couldn’t be prouder of them.”

While praising Airmen for their courage and dedication, the general also challenged deployed Airmen who have mastered their primary duties to branch out and learn about someone else’s job.

“Doing this will allow Airmen to better understand how they fit into the bigger picture and why integrated coalition warfare is critical,” he said.

Acknowledging the many challenges deployed Airmen face, General North thanked them for raising the bar and serving their country in a difficult time.

“Our Airmen today are the finest that our Air Force has ever seen. We can never forget how important they are and how proud America is of what they’re doing,” he said. “Our Airmen understand their mission. The enthusiasm with which they operate against a very determined foe is heartwarming, because they get it. And that’s what’s most important about our Airmen today: they get the mission, they understand it, they’re doing it 24/7 and nobody does it better.”