Brig Gen Rew: Fairchild wing, tenant relationship ‘very strong’ Published April 12, 2007 By Staff Sgt. Connie L. Bias 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- As the Air Force moves into the future of air power, Airmen are witnessing a constant increase in technological capabilities, heightened deployment schedules and a growing number of joint-force operations. This week, a visiting wing commander said Airmen at Fairchild are clearly ready for the challenge and play a crucial role in today's Global War on Terrorism. "As you've heard other leadership say, the key to air power is flexibility, and air refueling allows us the long reach and flexibility we need," said Brig. Gen. William Rew, 57th Wing commander, Air Combat Command, who was at Fairchild April 9-11. "Our way of war-fighting has changed significantly over the past 10 years in its precision ... Because of increases in technology in a lot of our airplanes, our bombs being able to fly specific GPS coordinates and cargo palettes being able to fly under parachutes to specific drop coordinates, our need for flexibility is getting more intense. That flexibility of the striking force depends on air refueling and the enabling forces." General Rew's trip here focused on the 509th Weapons Squadron, a tenant unit at Fairchild that falls under the 57th, headquartered at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. The 509th, a detachment of the U.S. Air Force Weapons School at Nellis, houses the KC-135 Weapons Instructor Course, designed to turn officers, usually captains with a maximum of nine years service time, into experts of their weapons system's tactical employment, and the operational level of war. The five-and-a-half month course is comparable to a PhD-level education, said the general, who attended the Nellis-based Weapons School in 1984. "These graduates leave with an unbelievable amount of knowledge and expertise that they then return to the Air Force when they teach others or go into our operations centers," he said. "The school exposes them, educates them, and gives them flying experiences they'll never have outside combat situations." Those combat situations, in today's Air Force and in the future, are exactly what the pilots need to be ready for. Responding to the call of duty is a theme very close to the general's heart. "There are people who truly hate us, everything we stand for and our way of life, and they are committed to their war against us," he said. "As long as I wear the uniform, and even when I give up the uniform, I will be committed to supporting the fight against those who would oppress or attack our country." That fight, as the Air Force gets smaller and continues to deploy all over the world, increasingly depends on joint forces and a unified front. From what General Rew has seen at Fairchild, the base has this working relationship down. "The 509th commander and all of the squadron members have sung the same tune relating to the support they receive from the host wing here - that the relationship is incredible," said General Rew. "We could not do our mission here without support from the operations group, the maintenance group, the mission support group ... The relationship is strong, and the communication is very good. So far, this is the best relationship of a host wing supporting a GSU I've seen in my travels."
