Fourth AF commander visits 315 AW

Brig. Gen. John C. Flournoy, Jr., 4th Air Force commander visited the 315th Airlift Wing at Joint Base Charleston Jan. 24 as part of an effort to get out and see the wing's under his command.

 Col. Fontanella, 315th Airlift Wing commander, kicked off the general's visit with a breakfast at the Charleston Club with 315th leadership, followed by a joint (Team Charleston) mission briefing.

 After a quick windshield tour of the base, Flournoy stopped by the 315th Operations Group to meet with members of the three flying squadrons, the 315th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron and the 315th Airlift Control Flight.

 The general told the Airmen he visited that he as an "open e-mail policy" and he wanted to hear if someone was having a problem causing them frustration and to question their continuing to serve in the Reserve. "My staff doesn't read my e-mail, so if you have a burning issue, I owe you a response. It might not be the answer you want to hear, but I promise you that I'll get you a response," Flournoy said.

 When someone asked why he was still doing his own travel voucher in DTS since he's a general he said he responded: "Because I want to feel the pain. I want to know what you're going through - when you come home from a long trip on a Sunday night and you've got to be back to work Monday morning, but are thinking, 'I got to file that voucher, but I can't get into DTS because it's down, or whatever, I want to feel that pain too."

"I applaud everything that you do every day, but I need to hear about it - the things that you don't like and the things that you do like," Flournoy said.

 Flournoy said he understand the frustration and inconveniences that last year's sequestration, furloughs and government shutdown have caused to every Airman and Air Force civilian. He said he also understands how these events impacted the mission.

 Flournoy applauded the wing on its performance for the recent unit effectiveness inspection. "You guys really set the bar high and that's a great thing."

 Acknowledging the great relationship that the 315th has with the 437th AW and the 628th Airbase Wing, Flournoy said, "The relationship with your active duty counter parts across the street is absolutely critical, especially as we come out of a conflict and don't have the opportunity to deploy like we did before and at the level that we did before. It's important that you continue to exercise with them and be inclusive constantly.

 Besides the Operations Group, Flournoy visited Airmen with the 315th Maintenance Group to learn about their excellence to detail hard work to launch and maintain Charleston's fleet of C-17s.

 He finished the day by joining 315th AW leadership for a pre-unit training assembly briefing.

 Over the UTA weekend the general is scheduled to have a junior enlisted breakfast in the base dining facility, and make more visits to other 315th AW members.