Air Mobility Command, Air National Guard leadership ensures morale, well-being for deployed

Air National Guard leadership from Air Mobility Command and 18th Air Force traveled to the 506th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Dec. 15-19 to spread holiday cheer and ensure the vitality of deployed Air National Guardsmen.

Maj. Gen. Thomas Kennett, Air National Guard assistant to the AMC commander, was the senior representative on the visit, which allowed AMC’s citizen Airmen leadership to thank their fellow Guardsmen for their contributions to the Total Force mobility mission while deployed over the holidays.

“Mobility Airmen stand watch 24/7/365, and our citizen Airmen deployed to Guam are no different,” said Col. Bob Manning, 18th Air Force Air National Guard Advisor to the 18th Air Force commander. “It is never easy to be away from your family, but it can be especially difficult around the holidays. We want the deployed Airmen to know that even though they are away from home, we are looking out for them.”

The 506th EARS is a permanent part of the 36th Operations Group, but its personnel comprise Air National Guard members who fall under the 18th Air Force umbrella while in place at Guam. ANG units that fly KC-135 Stratotankers from around the United States perform three-month rotations, during which they maintain 506th EARS operations.

“It means a lot that each and every one of us really plays an important role in the bigger mission,” said Airman Basic Taylor Stevens, 190 Air Refueling Wing material manager. “That we are all very important, even me, the lowest ranking individual in the room, that I play a key role in something bigger than myself.”

The unit operates and maintains KC-135s that the units bring with them during the deployment.