Travis Tailwind: Friday, Aug. 4, 2023

Air Force maverick who warned of war with China sticks to his guns PAGE 6

TRAVIS TAILWIND

THE PEGASUS HAS

ARRIVED Travis welcomes its first KC-46A PAGE 2

Travis welcomes its first KC-46A Pegasus

Chustine Minoda

TRAVIS AIR FORCE

BASE — Travis AFB received its first KC-46A Pegasus July 28.

Maj. General Joel Jackson, Air Force District of Washington commander, and an aircrew made up of members from the 60th and 349th Air Mobility Wings delivered the first aircraft to Travis directly from Boeing Field, located in Seattle, Washington.

To commemorate this milestone, Team Travis hosted a celebratory event in the newly constructed three-bay hangar inviting base members and leaders from the local community.

During the event, key leaders provided remarks including a video presentation by John Garamendi, congressional representative of California’s 3rd District, and remarks by U.S. Air Force retired Lt. Gen. Samuel Cox, Boeing Air Force and Space Force Systems vice president, Maj. Gen. Corey Martin, 18th Air Force commander, Maj. Gen. Jackson, as well as Team Travis leadership including Col. Derek Salmi, 60th AMW commander, and Col. Terence McGee, 349th AMW vice commander.

“This has required the concerted effort of all who fly, fix, support and heal as part of the mobility mission here at Travis and has translated directly into today’s capabilities,” said Salmi.

The KC-46A aircraft will be operated by the 6th and 9th Air Refueling Squadrons for the active

component and the 70th and 79th Air Refueling Squadrons for the Air Force Reserve Command.

“While we celebrate today, the great event of bringing in the KC-46, what we honor everyday is the culture of an Air mobility wing,” said Jackson. “The culture of what we have here at Travis AFB.”

In January 2017, former Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James announced that Travis AFB was selected as a preferred location for the second round of KC-46A basing selections.

In preparation for the arrival of the KC-46A, the base commenced construction on the $136.2 million three-bay hangar in December 2018. Following five years of work, the project reached its completion in May 2023. This expansive hangar, spanning approximately 174,300 square feet, will serve as the Department of Defense’s exclusive KC-46A support facility on the west coast.

“The first feeling I feel is pride,” said Lt. Col. Paul Overdiek, 749th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron commander. “We’re ready to operate it [KC-46] and we’re ready to maintain it.”

The KC-46A is equipped with several self-protection, defensive and communication features making it more survivable in a contested environment. According to Boeing, recent contracts between Boeing and the Air Force will continue to invest in advanced data and communication capabilities.

See KC-46A Page 3

TRAVIS TAILWIND

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CONTENTS

2 Cover Story

5 Puzzle

10-11 Worship services

14 Classifieds

Travis Air Force Base command leadership salute the pilots of a KC-46A Pegasus for a ceremony celebrating the next generation of aerial refueling at Travis Air Force Base, July 28. Senior Airman Lauren Jacoby/U.S. Air Force

Senior Airman Lauren Jacoby/U.S. Air Force

A KC-46A Pegasus arrives for a ceremony at Travis Air Force Base, July 28.

KC-46A

From Page 2

“The KC-46A provides survivability, connectivity and situational awareness that are unprecedented in a tanker, allowing the crew to detect, identify, avoid and defeat threats in contested environments,” said Lynn Fox, Boeing vice president and KC-46A program manager. “We’ll continue to partner with the Air Force to evolve the Pegasus’s capabilities to meet the needs of the mission.”

The KC-10 is planned for complete divestment by September 2024, making way for the KC-46 to take over the role of being the air

Travis shoppers can win $50,000 in scholarships

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE — The Travis AFB BX is partnering with Procter & Gamble to give away five $10,000 scholarships to military shoppers in the Tide & Downy Scholarship Sweepstakes.

Through Sept. 30, students in the U.S. can enter the sweepstakes by visiting Tide.com/scholarship,

where they will specify their school, demographic information and where they shop.

The sweepstakes is open to all students 16 years of age or older who are either enrolled in or accepted to a U.S. university, college or community college for an undergraduate degree.

refueling aircraft of the Gateway to the Pacific. This transition will launch the KC-46A as the new face of air refueling operations, ensuring the continued readiness and effectiveness of air operations, worldwide.

“Beginning today, the KC-46 stands ready to take the baton pass from the most faithful of tankers, the KC-10 Extender, whose distinctive silhouette has graced the skies over Solano County for the past three decades and extended American power worldwide for more than forty years with its defining characteristics of strength and class,” said Salmi.

Senior Airman Lauren Jacoby/U.S. Air Force Vacaville Mayor John Carli tours a KC-46A Pegasus during a ceremony celebrating the next generation of aerial refueling at Travis Air Force Base, July 28. During the event, Team Travis welcomed their first KC-46A and celebrated the official beginning of the installation’s KC-46A operations.

Nicholas Pilch/U.S. Air Force

A U.S. Air Force KC-46A Pegasus arrives during a ceremony celebrating the next generation of aerial refueling at Travis Air Force Base, July 28.

Air Force takes action on barriers to mental health, wellness, resilience

Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs

ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) —

The Department of the Air Force has established a new CrossFunctional Team to combat barriers to mental health, wellness and resilience for Airmen, Guardians, and their families.

The Fortify the Force Initiative Team, championed by the Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force and Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force, had volunteers from myriad functional communities working to promote holistic

wellness and address resiliency barriers since early 2022. Their outreach efforts have generated more than 300 initiative submissions directly from Airmen and Guardians.

The new Cross-Functional Team was initiated by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Jr., to quickly prioritize and staff these submissions for decision and implementation. It will include members from Department of the Air Force staff, Air Force major commands, and Space Force field commands.

“My challenge to the team is to

Military Star rewards add up for Travis shoppers

Army & Air Force Exchange Service Public Affairs

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE —

The Military Star card sets Travis Air Force Base shoppers up for savings—and rewards.

Cardmembers earn unlimited 2% in rewards on purchases when they use Military Star. Every time shoppers reach 2,000 points, they automatically receive a $20 digital reward.

In 2022, shoppers worldwide earned $36 million in rewards, which can be used anywhere an Exchange gift card is accepted. The rewards program is part of the

$435 million annual benefit Military Star provided to the military community worldwide through exclusive offers and benefits.

Other benefits of the card include:

n 5 cents off every gallon of gas at Exchange fuel locations.

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See REWARDS Page 5

overcome bureaucracy, connect stakeholders and perspectives to develop informed decisions, and to accelerate change in ways that are meaningful to our force,” Brown said in a recent memo.

The CFT is tackling a wide range of ideas, including ease of access to mental health care, peer support programs, wellness resources, post-suicide analysis, climate risk factors, and a

wide range of policies impacting the force. They will also represent the total force, including Airmen, Guardians, guardsmen, reservists, DAF civilians, and dependents.

The team is also supported directly by Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin, and Deputy Director of Staff Nancy Dolan, who has led the charge to bring in sister service

representation and key partners, such as the Defense Health Agency, Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development.

The FFIT CFT is modeled after the recently created Barriers to Service Cross-Functional Team that examines existing recruiting policies and procedures to ensure they reflect the service members needed for the future.

among store cards—rate is offered to all cardmembers upon account approval.

n No annual, late or overlimit fees.

n Reduced-interest deployment plan with no payments required for eligible cardmembers.

“The Military Star rewards program allows Travis AFB shoppers to get more for their money,” said Travis BX General Manager Cathie Byrns. “This is especially important at a time when many in the military community are looking to make their dollars go further.”

Rewards are earned everywhere the card is accepted, including at commissaries and Armed Forces Recreation Centers, as well as all military exchanges, ShopMyExchange.com, MyNavyExchange.comand ShopCGX. com. Rewards exclude the Military Clothing Plan.

Shoppers who use Military Star and shop the Travis AFB Exchange not only save but give back, as 100% of Exchange earnings are reinvested in the military communities it serves. In the last 10 years, the Exchange worldwide has provided $3.5 billion in earnings for critical on-installation Quality-ofLife programs that make life better for service members and families.

Air Force maverick who warned of war with China sticks to his guns

The Washington Post

SCOTT

AIR FORCE BASE,

Ill. — He’s been called a “big teddy bear,” a gruff “football coach” and a “cowboy” who needs to be put out to pasture. But one thing Gen. Michael A. Minihan is not: shy.

Here, where the suburbs of St. Louis meet the cornfields of southern Illinois, resides the four-star commander who, in uncommonly confrontational language for such a senior military officer, has ordered the 110,000 troops under his command to prepare for war. With China.

Two years from now, maybe.

“I hope I am wrong,” he informed them in a January memo that went viral after one

of its recipients leaked the document online. “My gut tells me we will fight in 2025.”

Minihan’s combustible rhetoric, including a directive for personnel to sharpen their marksmanship skills and “aim for the head,” is red meat for the China hawks in Congress who fear the United States is woefully underprepared should a conflict erupt in that part of the world. It has disturbed some in the Pentagon, however, as the general’s assertiveness has felt startlingly at odds with the Biden administration’s carefully calibrated attempt to reset relations with Beijing. Senior officials nonetheless have stuck by him - and he has pressed forward with an ambitious plan to “explode” into the Pacific in the

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event of a war.

This profile of Minihan, 56, is based on interviews with the general and 11 others, including members of his staff and Pentagon officials. Some spoke on the condition of anonymity to offer frank assessments of how Minihan’s candor has affected views of him.

At his headquarters in Illinois, Minihan said he “wasn’t being cutesy” with his bellicose memo but stressed that it was meant for an internal Air Force audience, not public consumption.

“There can be no ambiguity on what my expectations are,” Minihan said. “I’m not trying to be somebody that I’m not, nor am I trying to use theater or a ped-

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Maverick

From Page 6

estal. I’m simply trying to make sure that my command is ready to win if called upon.”

‘Lima Foxtrot Golf’

At 6-foot-5, the silver-haired Minihan cuts an imposing figure. But away from a microphone, he often seems more like a quirky father figure, associates say. The general fires off dad jokes, drives a dented 1966 Chevrolet pickup truck to work, and enthusiastically brags about his wife, Ashley, and their three adult children.

“Mini has a heart of gold,” Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the Air Force chief of staff, said as Minihan was promoted two years ago and assigned to lead Air Force Mobility Command, which oversees the service’s fleet of cargo and tanker planes and the personnel who fly and maintain them.

“He’s kind of like a big teddy bear for those that know him.”

Minihan was selected for the job after 10 years in the Pacific, a tenure that included a posting as the No. 2 officer at U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, which coordinates military operations spanning thousands of miles from the Aleutian Islands to Australia. Brown, since nominated to be Biden’s next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recalled taking an interest in Minihan’s elevation after watching how he led a sensitive mission into North Korea to recover the remains of American troops who’d gone missing during the war decades ago.

Upon arriving in Illinois, Minihan leveled with his staff about who he was, staff members said. In a one-page handout, the general told his subordinates that he loved surfing and checklists, considered himself a “natural disrupter,” and had learned “the air is thin and there are no parachutes at this level” once

you become a general. He concluded with the phrase, “LIMA FOXTROT GOLF,” meaning let’s f---ing go.

The general took charge of Air Mobility Command two months after the haphazard U.S. evacuation of Afghanistan, in which the Air Force’s fleet of C-17 jets and the airmen who flew them were pushed to the brink of exhaustion. While they saved 124,000 people from Taliban subjugation, 13 U.S. troops and 170 Afghans were killed in a suicide bombing just outside the international airport in Kabul. Bearing witness to the carnage and desperation left some of his airmen struggling, he said. Minihan resolved that he needed to set an example, that it was okay to seek help. He reached out to a mental health professional and shared the decision widely. “Warrior heart. No stigma,” he tweeted in January 2022, along with an image of a calendar showing his appointment. It led to the three most uncom-

fortable days of his career, as he processed some of the challenging moments he has experienced, Minihan said.

“What I discovered is that when you pack a body on ice in the back of C-130 and it smells horrific, and you can’t wash it off you, that’s something to deal with,” he said, misty-eyed. “When you’re in the Pentagon on 9/11, that’s something to deal with. When your squadron is supporting operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, 2003 to 2006, and your squadron moves hundreds of angels [deceased U.S. troops] . . . there’s something to talk about.”

Minihan told The Washington Post that one of the most frequent observations he heard from airmen who participated in the evacuation of Afghanistan is that they wish they had known how difficult the conditions would be so they could have better prepared. He feels obligated to make sure they know now “what it’s really going to be” if a conflict

breaks out.

“When you are put in situations where you are facing the realities of the gap of what you have versus what you wish you had, that gap is filled with courage and tenacity,” Minihan said in the interview. “And preparing our team to fill that gap on enormous scale is critically important.”

‘If this comes across as harsh, good’

It is this mind-set that appears to have influenced the general’s grab-you-by-the-lapels style.

Speaking last fall at an Air Force conference, Minihan told a crowd of hundreds of airmen, defense contractors, and civilian officials that he wants his team to “fly it like we stole it.” He went on to deliver a rousing speech and said that “nobody is going to care” what the U.S. military’s plans are for 10 years from now if it loses a war tomorrow.

See MAVERICK Page 9

“Lethality matters most!” he told the crowd. “When you can kill your enemy, every part of your life is better! Your food tastes better. Your marriage is stronger.”

Minihan followed up by releasing a 20-page “Mobility Manifesto” that was both urgent and irreverent. “If you are easily offended by intentional crass, please stop reading now,” he wrote in the opening. The document goes on to criticize “excuse-laden admiration for the status quo” and declare that air mobility forces were in “crisis.” While U.S. airmen are the best in the world, he wrote, there is “significant risk” in inaction that requires “revolutionary” moves to ensure that the Air Force can continue to do its part.

“If this comes across as harsh, good,” Minihan wrote. “We are not looking for blue skies or smooth air. We are looking to deliver.”

Weeks later, Minihan’s memo predicting war within China drew international attention. He ordered airmen to get their personal affairs in order and to “fire a clip into a 7-meter target with the full understanding that unrepentant lethality matters most.”

“Aim for the head” when doing so, he directed.

The Pentagon distanced itself from the remarks, while China’s state-run Global Times cited analysts decrying what they called the U.S. military’s prevalence of “super-hawkish war maniacs.”

One influential retired general,

Barry McCaffrey, tweeted that Minihan needed “to be placed on terminal leave,” effectively fired, after showing bad judgment and “cowboy aggression.” Lawmakers hawkish toward Beijing defended the general, with Rep. Michael Gallagher (R.-Wis.), chairman of the House Select Committee on China, saying Minihan should be “commended for directing his Airmen to take the threat seriously and preparing with the urgency that the situation demands.”

One senior U.S. defense official said that he was incredulous upon learning about the memo and wondered whether Beijing would see it as escalatory. Another defense official said Minihan retains the confidence of senior leaders, adding that “when we lose trust in leaders, we remove them from command.”

Brown, now awaiting confirmation to become the Joint Chiefs chairman, told Military.com that he was “disappointed” in aspects of Minihan’s memorandum, but agreed with his sense of urgency.

Minihan’s approach has had impact within an organization that spent the last 20 years flying cargo planes to and from war zones where the airspace was largely uncontested, the general’s staff said. Minihan often makes the point that in any conflict with China, which has developed a sophisticated arsenal of missiles, those lumbering planes would be at much greater risk of coming under attack.

Brig. Gen. Corey Simmons, Minihan’s former chief of staff, compared the general to a “football coach” insisting on holding difficult practices so that game

days are easier. Minihan, he said, has directed airmen to prepare for a potential conflict with China with “specificity,” and is “insatiable” in looking for improvement.

“He made the news, right? Not a secret,” said Simmons, the commander of the 618th Air Operations Center at Scott. “That’s internal communication to his team. That was the coach telling his team the expectations for what he wanted to do and that this was real.”

Col. James Young, vice commander of the 618th, said that Minihan also has pressed the Air Force to more fully incorporate cargo aircraft and aerial refuelers in combat exercises. Historically, Young said, there has been

a metaphorical “fairy-dusting” of mobility forces in large training missions, with assumptions made they would be safe in a conflict so they could get out of the way and let fighter jets train.

“It was almost like he lit a firecracker and said, ‘Hey, did you read the NDS?’ “ Young said, referring to the U.S. national defense strategy, which identified military competition with China as a primary concern.

Maj. Gen. Darren Cole, a senior officer on Minihan’s staff, said that the two-year timeline for war with China that the general laid out “never” comes up internally. But the sense of urgency, Cole said, does all the time.

“He is way out of ahead of

where a lot of people are,” Cole said. “Getting people to realize the world has changed and our operational environment has changed has, I think, been a big undertaking.”

Minihan, for his part, bubbles with enthusiasm when describing experiments his airmen are undertaking. For two weeks in July, thousands fanned out across the Pacific as part of the exercise Mobility Guardian, delivering troops, fuel and supplies while stress-testing the limits on what the aircraft and personnel can do. The idea, he said, was to make sure the Air Force can forcefully and rapidly project power if needed.

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Prayer Meeting: 6:30-7:00 p.m.

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Lead

US suspends security cooperation with Niger as Europeans evacuate

The Washington Post

The United States has suspended security cooperation with military forces in Niger following an effort to oust the elected president there, a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday, a new acknowledgment of the seriousness of conditions on the ground as the Biden administration grapples with how to respond to last week’s apparent coup.

Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters that partnered activities, including U.S. training of Nigerien soldiers, has been “suspended in light of the situation.” A second defense official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity citing the matter’s sensitivity, said the suspension had begun shortly after President Mohamed Bazoum was detained by his own presidential guard.

The administration has been

hesitant to label events in Niger a coup - a designation that under U.S. law could require the cessation of both security and economic assistance - because of the country’s key role as a Western ally in counterterrorism operations in Africa’s Sahel region, where the Islamic State, al-Qaeda and other terror groups are active, and its status as one of the few remaining democracies in a region riven by military overthrows.

After investing deeply in its relationship with Bazoum, who took office in 2021 in the first democratic transfer of power since Niger’s independence from France in 1960, the administration had viewed Niger as a hopeful democratic outpost in the region. Now policymakers say they face choices in which a misstep could make the situation worse, even as they hold out hope that it’s not too late to restore the democratically

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elected leader to power.

“We think it’s credible to see if we can put things back on track,” a senior State Department official said. “We don’t think [Bazoum’s ouster is] fully successful and we think there’s a narrow opportunity to reverse it.”

The Pentagon’s comments came as French military aircraft began an evacuation of European citizens from the international airport in Niamey, Niger’s capital, after demonstrators on Sunday

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Niger

From Page 11

attacked the French Embassy.

The United States, while urging Americans there to avoid “unnecessary movements” and pay attention to embassy safety alerts, has not participated in the evacuation, White House spokesman John Kirby said earlier in a separate briefing for reporters.

“We don’t have any indications of direct threats to U.S. citizens or to our facilities,” Kirby said. “But again, we’re monitoring it literally by the hour,” and if the

situation changes “I’m sure we’ll have more to say about that.” He said the administration has urged Nigerien authorities to help facilitate the European evacuation flights.

France sent evacuation emails to its citizens after the embassy attack. The French Foreign Ministry, which estimates there are several hundred French citizens in Niger, a former French colony, said it would also help other Europeans leave the country. Germany, Italy and Spain have indicated their nationals should leave.

The first of an expected three French air force evacuation planes took off from Niamey just

before 9 p.m. local time Tuesday with 262 people on board, including a dozen babies, Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told Agence France-Presse. The upheaval began last week when Niger’s presidential guard detained Bazoum and declared guard head Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani the country’s new leader. Since then, the State Department and the Pentagon have made intensive efforts to convince the leaders of Niger’s militarywhich has not intervened against the presidential guard, but whose position remains unclear - and neighboring countries to pressure the self-proclaimed ruling junta to

stand down and reinstall Bazoum.

The United States has two military bases inside the country. About 1,000 troops are deployed there for counterterrorism purposes and partnered operations with Niger’s military forces. “There’s no decision to use them in any way to support evacuation

efforts by other countries,” Kirby said. “And there have been no decisions made about pre-positioning any additional [U.S.] forces in or nearby Niger for that purpose. . . . If we have to make adjustments, we’ll make adjustments. We’re just not there yet.”

See NIGER Page 15

Niger

From Page 13

He also declined to speculate over whether a group of West African nations who last weekend threatened to use force in Niger if the civilian government were not restored by Sunday, would do so. In response to the threat, military rulers of neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso have said they would consider “any military intervention against Niger” a declaration of war against them.

“I’ll let them speak to what their plans are,” Kirby said of the West African group. “We still believe that there’s a window here for diplomacy and that’s what we’re focused on,” he said.

A number of weekend demonstrators appeared in the streets with Russian flags. But despite reports that Moscow or Russia’s Wagner mercenary group was somehow involved in fomenting the apparent coup attempt, he said, “there’s no indication that Russia was behind this” or was “materially supporting it in any way or responsible for what’s happening.”

Defense Department officials previously had stopped short of saying military cooperation was suspended, while acknowledging more vaguely that the power struggle has altered operations. Asked on Monday evening whether the United States had suspended the training of Nigerien soldiers, the second defense official did not offer a direct answer, saying only that U.S. troops “continue daily cooperation to keep the base operations and services functioning.”

Ryder, asked on Tuesday whether the suspension affects long-running regional counterterrorism and surveillance drone flights operating from the U.S. bases in Niger, declined to respond, saying that he “wasn’t going to talk about” intelligence operations.

“Our focus right now is on making sure that our troops continue to stay safe, that we continue to assess the situation,” Ryder said.

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