TRAVIS FIELD, Ga. –
Brig. Gen. Burton Field, 1st Fighter Wing commander, paid a visit to Savannah, Ga., July 5 to tour what has been dubbed “Langley South.”
For the past month, Airmen from the 71st Fighter Squadron, 1st Maintenance Group and 1st Mission Support Group have been working in a simulated deployed environment at Savannah International Airport as 1st Fighter Wing, Detachment 71. The deployment began in late May, when Langley’s runway shut down for repairs.
During the visit, General Field held a commander’s call to talk about the job Langley Airmen were doing.
“FMC (Fully Mission Capable) rates have been the best they’ve been in months,” General Field said. “Those statistics are telling.”
In the month Det. 71 has been here, sortie rates have skyrocketed, with more than 600 flights in June alone.
“Nine to 10 sorties per month are required for a pilot to be Combat Mission Ready,” said Lt. Col. Robert Garland, Det. 71 commander. “You’re getting 20 to 25 sorties a month down here. The CMR (pilot Combat Mission Ready) rate has gone through the roof.”
The high sortie rate has allowed Det. 71 to train a new instructor pilot and two new eight-ship mission commanders, a fact General Field attributed to the detachment’s dedication.
“The only reason we’ve been able to do that in this short a time is your hard work,” General Field told them. “At the end of the day, the reason we’re here is so that airplane can go out in the world somewhere and do the job. Everything is linked together.”
General Field was also on hand to award Det. 71’s Airman of the Month award to Master Sgt. Robert Beltz and the Airman of the Week award to Airman 1st Class John Brenes, 1st Component Maintenance Squadron.
After a tour of the facilities, General Field said Det. 71’s progress was obvious.
“I was prepared to be impressed, and I wasn’t disappointed,” he said. “Most impressive is the teamwork. Our pilots are all CMR, and our maintenance stats are better than they’ve been in months. I’m enormously impressed at the progress shown over the last month.”