ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE, S.D. -- Col. John R. Edwards, the 28th Bomb Wing Commander and Command Chief Master Sgt. Adam Vizi, recently visited the men and women of Ellsworth AFB deployed to Andersen AFB, Guam.
Edwards and Vizi made the trip to meet the 37th Bomb Squadron and 37th Aircraft Maintenance Unit who deployed before Edwards assumed command. Members currently deployed to Guam are tasked with conducting sorties to provide air power around the Indo-Asia Pacific Theater in support of the Continuous Bomber Presence mission for United States Pacific Command.
“We are there to reassure our allies that we support them and to deter our adversaries by letting them know we can act if need be,” said Vizi. “We are proud of our Airmen who are helping continue the mission of ensuring that we are able to defend American interests in the Pacific.”
The CPB mission is vital to the Pacific commands ability to influence and deter adversaries in the region.
“CBP is a critical part of the current U.S. Government pressure campaign against adversaries in the Asia-Pacific region,” Edwards said.
Airmen deployed there are facing new challenges and have to ready at a moment’s notice to respond to any threats or changes to the mission.
“It is a different climate and our Airmen face new trials,” Vizi said. “It puts additional stress on the aircraft and our maintainers have to stay on top of it.”
Edwards and Vizi wanted to reassure deployed Airmen that back home at Ellsworth they were not forgotten and the home front was being taken care of.
“We met with our Airmen during several informal and formal gatherings to include a deployed Airmen call,” Edwards said. “We listened to the concerns of our Airmen and updated them on everything back at Ellsworth. We also received the latest mission updates about the CBP operation.”
The task set before them is large, but team Ellsworth has to be able to respond to any peril that may appear.
“I am very proud of our deployed leadership team, Lt. Col. Diehl and Capt. Franks for ensuring their personnel were ready and lethal,” Edwards said. “I also wanted to thank our spouses and families back home for their continued support to our Airmen. Without them, we cannot have achieved so much during this historic deployment.”