Observing with General Findley: 'Expeditionary Center is doing its part'

  • Published
  • By Chief Master Sgt. Paula Paige
  • U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center Public Affairs
FORT DIX, N.J. --  If there's a tale to be told about how Lt. Gen Vern "Rusty' Findley got his nickname, he wasn't sharing it. "That's classified," he said with a laugh. 

Instead, the vice commander of Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., was the one asking probing questions during his two-day tour from Sept 22-23 of the U.S. Air Force's Expeditionary Center headquarters on Fort Dix and Air Force Exercise Eagle Flag 08-6 at Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst.  

"How many of you have been in firefights?" he asked the instructors during a tour of the firing range. 

"I was in Kirkuk, (Iraq)," an Airman responded. 

"How did it start?" General Findley queried. 

Then he followed up: "How'd the Iraqis do?" 

When he got an opportunity to try out an AK-47 rifle, he asked, "How many rounds does an average student get to fire?" 

A volley of questions answered, including the AK-47 answer which is 20 rounds for students, he expressed his gratitude for the instructors' service -- a gesture repeated over and over during his two-day tour. 

"The reason I was asking questions is, No. 1, I've been out of the command and I've been over there," General Findley said. 

"I want to learn what we're doing to prepare our folks to be over there because we are right in the middle of this thing." 

Getting a bird's eye view of how Airmen train before deployment was especially important to General Findley. Not only is the Expeditionary Center among the assets owned by AMC, but the vice commander recently returned from a yearlong tour at Central Command in Baghdad and brings fresh insights to the training environment. 

"I wish I was going to tell you that this thing (the Global War on Terrorism) was going to end tomorrow," he told a group of Airmen during the Eagle Flag exercise. "It's going to be a long war. ...The next time you need (this training) you'll probably be over there." 

Col. Darrell Riggs, the 95th Mission Support Group commander at Edwards AFB, Calif., who was playing the role of camp commander for Eagle Flag said, "It's great for the troops to see him and for him to see what we do. It's good for senior leadership to come through." 

Stopping by the tent that housed the camp's communications equipment and staff, General Findley told the Airmen their mission was vital. "We're here to defend our nation," he said. "What I see here in this camp and CENTCOM are great young Americans who signed up to serve our country. I'm convinced that what we're doing there has prevented another attack on our country. This (communications) is the backbone. If COMM goes down, chaos reigns." 

Senior Airman Anthony Tran's first experienced Eagle Flag as a student. Now a more seasoned Iraqi war veteran, the explosive ordnance technician has returned as a "role player," donning a sister service's uniform to play an Army soldier in the fictional town of Chimaera. After demonstrating an explosion, Airman Tran discussed the significance of General Findley's visit to the training environment. 

"This gives him insight into what students will encounter and how the cadre is running the village," Airman Tran said, "how important training is for Airmen and how we're prepared for Iraq." 

One of General Findley's last stops at the center was the obstacle course portion of the Phoenix Warrior Training Course, a grueling test of everything the students have learned over the two-week course. 

"The obstacle course was pretty impressive, pretty intense," General Findley said. "I've been over there -- a lot. The physical piece of it is certainly something they need to be prepared for. What I was most impressed with was the training that tries to bond them as a team -- where they become 13 people fighting as one; helping each other out not, leaving anybody behind. That was impressive teamwork. 

"I leave here after two days feeling very, very comfortable and happy that the Expeditionary Center is doing its part in making sure these great young men and women that we are sending to war are as ready as we can make them, before they get over there," General Findley said. "They'll never be completely ready, but we're doing a darn good job in making sure we give them the skills, the knowledge and, frankly, the experience they need to contribute to the joint war fight."