New COMPACAF visits Misawa for first time

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Rachel Martinez
  • 35th Fighter Wing public affairs
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan --  A blizzard, and what would amount to nearly 15 inches of snow, couldn't stop the new Pacific Air Forces commander from making his first official visit to Misawa.

Gen. Howie Chandler, and his wife Eva-Marie, arrived Thursday afternoon for a two-day tour of the base. Misawa was the second stop in his tour of PACAF's bases in Japan.

"I think it's important to take a look around the command and that's what we're doing here," the general said. "We are going to be balancing priorities in the Pacific, but our vision statement remains the same, our mission statement remains the same and our priorities remain the same. I think we are in really good shape in the Pacific, in regards to the rest of the world."

The first order of business for the general was an office call with the Misawa City mayor, Kazumasa Taneichi.

"The support this community gives to the base is truly legendary," General Chandler told the mayor. Following introductions, the two men discussed the importance of open lines of communication, the importance of good relations between the city and the base, and continuing on with the tradition of "co-existence and co-prosperity."

Friday morning 10 Misawa Airmen had the opportunity to sit down with General Chandler over breakfast. Topics ranged from six-month deployments to the new Airman Battle Uniform.

"I was honored to sit down with him," said Airman 1st Class George Nix, 35th Services Squadron assistant manager of the Grissom Dining Facility store room. "He seems very motivated and it seems like he will do a good job with PACAF."

The rest of Friday morning was spent touring maintenance and operations facilities such as the F-16 simulator, Queen Bee and Hush House. The general was also treated to a demonstration by the PACAF Demo Team.

Before departing for his next destination, General Chandler held an "All Call" for the members of Misawa Air Base. Although he said the wing leadership does an excellent job of keeping people informed, there were a few topics he wanted to share his thoughts on. One hot topic was deployments and the Global War on Terrorism.

"The Air Force has made it clear that if we have the capabilities to be there, then we are sending people in," he said. "At this point PACAF has about 1,000 Airmen deployed and I think this pace will continue. I don't anticipate we'll slow down in being asked to support the Global War on Terrorism."

The general also spoke about the budget and personnel cuts in the upcoming years.

"I'd say we are better off in 2008 than we were in 2007, particularly in base operations support. I've asked our commanders to sweep up the broken glass, so to speak, so we can achieve better readiness and a quality of life - to make sure we get back to the standards we set as the world's greatest Air Force.

"There is always going to be competition for resources," he continued. "We need to strike a balance between being ready to fight and taking care of our families. We are always going to have to be good stewards of the taxpayer's money.

"The reductions will continue," he added. "In the end we will have about 45,000 in PACAF - that includes Guard, Reserve and DoD civilians. We're a little higher than that now, but we took a lot of our hits early on."

With the manpower reductions General Chandler said he encourages people to strive for those AFSO 21 initiatives because that will allow us to stay relevant as an Air Force.

As his trip wrapped up, General Chandler was able to reflect on what he'd seen at Misawa during his short visit.

"I'm excited about what I see at Misawa - a focused mission," he said. "The men and women work very hard and are doing great things for the nation."

One of the great things about Misawa is the joint and bilateral operations as well as the strategic importance, the general said.

"Misawa is strategically an important place, not just for our Air Force, but for the Japan Air Self Defense Force and the United States Navy as well," he said. "One of the things I was extremely pleased to see was how closely the team works together. I think that pays big dividends to all of us. As we work through the various challenges and the things that we are faced with here in the Pacific we are able to do it from a single platform and with multiple services and our friends and neighbors from Japan.

"I think it is an exciting place to live and work," he continued. "Young Airmen come out of Misawa having a greater appreciation for the strategic importance of Misawa and what it is all about. In the end, you have not only have a very close-knit organization, but you produce an Airman, or a Sailor, or a JASDF Airman that really understands the significance of what we do here."

General Chandler assumed command of PACAF from Gen. Paul V. Hester in November 2007. He is a command pilot with more than 3,900 flight hours in the T-38, F-15 and F-16. As PACAF commander, he has responsibility for Air Force activities spread over half the globe in a command that supports more than 45,000 Air Force people serving principally in Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, Japan and South Korea.