COMMENTARY: We will be needed, we will be called - our focus is combat readiness, mission execution is the top priority

  • Published
  • By Col. Raymond A. Kozak
  • 349th Air Mobility Wing Commander
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  I am honored to become the 25th commander of the 349th Air Mobility Wing. Through outstanding performance in air mobility operations in every major contingency of the past 50-plus years, the 349th has earned a reputation for excellence.  Our Wing motto, "In Omnia Paratus," In All Things Prepared, has been an apt guide for the last half century. 

Using history as a guide, we can expect more opportunities to excel in the future. With that in mind, our duty to focus our efforts on combat readiness is very clear.

As Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III told Airmen in a recent video, "Our job is to fight and win the nation's wars .... You're the best in the world in what you do and nobody can compete with you if you keep that focus." Air Force Instruction 1-2 and General Welsh both make clear: mission execution is the first priority of commanders.  In fact, mission execution is the top priority for every Airman.

Staying focused on the mission and not getting sidetracked will be key to our success.  We're going to face challenges, particularly budgetary uncertainty and other factors beyond our control.   We will meet those challenges with the knowledge that success will require teamwork and what our USAF Strategic Master Plan calls a strategic imperative: agility.

We will need to be agile as we deliver our capabilities of airlift, air refueling and aeromedical evacuation to combatant commanders. These missions never go out of style; taken together, they are the essence of rapid global mobility.

I look forward to joining Team Travis and leading with "In Omnia Paratus" foremost in my mind. Being combat ready, General Welsh's commander's intent and "in all things being prepared" are all very closely related. We will be needed, we will be called-- we don't know exactly when or where-- but we will be called, and we must be ready.