Contingency response wing activates at Travis

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Lindsey Hahn
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN) --  When the 615th Contingency Response Wing stood up here April 11, the mobility mission of 15th Expeditionary Mobility Task Force’s expanded along with it.

“The activation of CRWs and associated groups at Travis and McGuire (Air Force Base, N.J.) is not only historic, but clearly signals our resolve to posture our mobility forces for rapid base opening operations anywhere in the world,” said Lt. Gen. William Welser III, 18th Air Force commander.

Lessons learned from operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom drove the need for an integral “base opening” construct. Ad hoc teams lacked the understanding of how each part of a base-opening team integrates together.

“Contingency response groups deliver a cohesive group of functional experts trained together to open the base. They’ll be light, lean and quick to deploy and employ,” said Col. Brooks Bash, 15th EMTF commander.

The concept of the groups, developed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, in 1999, teams people from a broad spectrum of job specialties to fully assess and open new air bases at a moment’s notice. It was a revelation in mindset compared to the old concept of sending makeshift groups of people to support the air operations portion of a bare base, Air Mobility Command officials said. While the groups do not actually seize the airfields, they are responsible for setting up the ensuing air base operations and necessary support functions for a deployed location.

“CRG is a full-spectrum force,” Colonel Bash said. “Whether opening an air base for combat forces or humanitarian relief forces, the CRG delivers base-opening capability worldwide with rapid and immediate results.”

“With the ever-increasing expeditionary nature of modern warfare, Air Mobility Command must be organized to quickly and effectively open airfields and conduct continuous air mobility operations anywhere in the world,” said Gen. John W. Handy, commander of AMC and U.S. Transportation Command. “The creation of CRWs moves us another step closer to an appropriate construct from which to shape and manage the future of our contributions to the nation’s warfighting capabilities.”

Much like the value of an all-star team compared to a pickup squad, combatant commanders now have the first team ready to go at a moment’s notice. (Courtesy of AMC News Service)