Air Force senior leaders visit Tallil Air Base

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Don Perrien
  • 407th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs
TALLIL AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) --  According to the Air Force’s senior leaders, the Airmen serving in Southwest Asia today are exceeding expectations as they press forward in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“We expect you to be great, but with all that we’ve seen firsthand, you’re even better than we expected,” said Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Gerald R. Murray. “That’s a testament to our great Airmen who are working out here.”

Hundreds of Airmen packed the base’s auditorium Nov. 10 to hear the Air Force’s senior leaders deliver a message of praise and support, and to ask questions about current topics of interest, including the proposed new utility uniform and force-shaping initiatives.

Secretary of the Air Force Dr. James G. Roche kicked off the troop call by mentioning the changes at the base since his first visit.

“When I first came here this place looked like a movie set from the 1930s,” he said. “It’s nice to see all the improvements you’ve made. It’s becoming a base to be proud of.”

The secretary continued by praising the deployed Airmen for their dedication and sacrifice in helping establish a free nation of Iraq.

“We’re terribly proud of you, and we’re terribly proud of what you do on a day-to-day basis,” Secretary Roche said. “You’re in the fight, and we know that. Each day we pray for you, and we strongly support you.”

Secretary Roche said the mission in Iraq is of paramount importance, not just for today, but for the future of a sovereign nation.

“What you’re doing is to give (the Iraqi people) potentially the opportunity to choose a government, and for that government to have some legitimacy,” he said. “This is something quite superb.”

After a crescendo of applause from the 407th Air Expeditionary Group Airmen, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John P. Jumper took the stage and lauded the Airmen for their past accomplishments. However, he instructed them to keep a vigilant eye toward the current mission in Iraq and at home.

“As Airmen, we have a right to be proud. Saddam Hussein buried his airplanes in the sand rather than to come out and face us and the airpower of our nation,” General Jumper said. “That’s a compliment to all of us, and you should be proud of that.”

The general said that while the success of our armed forces has opened a window of opportunity for a free Iraq, terrorists and criminals would like nothing better than to close that window.

“The people we’re up against now have no care whatsoever for your life, their life, their family’s lives, anybody’s lives,” General Jumper said. “People like Osama Bin Laden are not campaigning because they have a better plan for the world, or that they can advance the human endeavor, or that they can take care of their people better. They only exist not to be for anything, but against us.

“It’s very simple -- we can fight them here or fight them there in our home,” he said. “There is only one answer to this cause: that is to track them down, one at a time if necessary, but do what it takes (to win), and that’s what we’re going to do.”

In closing, Chief Murray talked about the Air Force’s new utility uniform, and changes in physical fitness assessments. The Air Force’s senior enlisted leader said he has been pleased by Airmen’s reaction to the redesigned replacement for the battle dress uniform.

“People’s reaction has been overwhelmingly positive,” he said. “You can’t please 100 percent of the people 100 percent of the time, but I’ll tell you, people like the new utility uniform, especially when you’ve seen it firsthand and understand the characteristics, development and all that’s gone into it.

“This is the most comfortable uniform I’ve worn since I wore my old permanent-press fatigues years ago,” Chief Murray said. “Of course, the knees on those fatigues wore out all the time, and you couldn’t wear them to the field; with this new uniform you can.”

Chief Murray said that senior leaders were listening to the survey feedback from the field regarding the new uniform, and changes were made to address Airmen’s concerns.

“Surprisingly, the eight-pointed caps you wear here and (that) everyone wanted to get their hands on, 70 percent of our Airmen came back and said they did not like the eight-pointed cap,” he said. “So we tossed it out.”

The other major change to the new utility uniform is the toned-down colors and digitized pattern. According to Chief Murray, those were changes made with an eye on both the future and the past of the Air Force.

“As we looked at integrated operations, you look at what the Army has unveiled (in their new utility uniform),” he said. “To be able to keep ourselves in some form of uniformity with that distinction, we took two-thirds of the colors (of the new Air Force uniform) from the Army uniform. Yet this design keeps our tiger stripes, in a digitized way, as part of our legacy from Vietnam in a modern type of uniform.”