Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ken Wilsbach and Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force David Wolfe, accompanied by their wives, Cindy Wilsbach and Dr. Doniel Wolfe, respectively, visited the 8th Fighter Wing at Kunsan Air Base, Oct. 23.
Wilsbach and Wolfe met with Wolf Pack leadership and Airmen, experiencing how Kunsan AB enables responsive combat airpower generation and integrated joint and combined air warfare capabilities in the Korean theater of operations. Engagements highlighted modernization initiatives at Kunsan AB, the enduring "Fight Tonight" warfighting spirit of the Wolf Pack and the installation's quality-of-life programs.
During a base tour, Wilsbach and Wolfe visited the workspaces and met with Airmen assigned to the Wolf Pack, immersing themselves in current operations at the base and learning more about how the 8th FW's diverse team gets after Kunsan AB's strategic priorities: defend the base, accept follow-on forces and take the fight north.
Meeting with Airmen dorm leaders assigned to the 8th Civil Engineer Squadron, Wolfe learned how Kunsan AB is tackling modernization of Airmen housing. Later, during a brief with the 8th Security Forces Squadron, Wolfe learned more about the installation's small unmanned aircraft systems and counter-sUAS systems, getting a chance to pilot an sUAS himself while using a counter-UAS device during a demonstration. The engagements centered around meeting as many career fields as possible and connecting with them to show how each career field is vital to the Air Force mission.
"Every single career field in the United States Air Force is really important to the flying and fixing mission. If you're flying airplanes or if you're fixing airplanes, you pretty much have a direct connection," Wilsbach said. "But if you're in one of those other career fields, you still have a very close connection, because flying and fixing does not happen without the contribution of everybody."
Later in the day, Wilsbach and Wolfe met with Airmen and leadership of the 35th Fighter Squadron and 35th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, two Wolf Pack units responsible for flying and sustaining F-16 Fighting Falcon operations at Kunsan AB. Wilsbach and Wolfe talked with pilots and maintainers assigned to the two squadrons, hearing from them and seeing firsthand how the Wolf Pack gets after its flying mission.
During their visit, Wilsbach and Wolfe also held an installation-wide all-call, delving into the Air Force's current priorities: combat readiness, commitment to rapid modernization and care for Airmen and their families.
Wilsbach opened the all-call with a statement on why the Air Force is so important to the United States' defense strategy, explaining how the excellence of Airmen and their ability to fly and fix aircraft directly enables robust readiness and deterrence.
"The most important thing we do in the United States Air Force is fly and fix aircraft - and of those two, fix is more important than fly, because when you fix, then you can fly. And when you fly, you get reps and sets - and when you get reps and sets, you create deterrent value, which is really the number one objective." Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ken Wilsbach
Additionally, Wilsbach and Wolfe's discussion on readiness stressed the importance of physical fitness and its connectedness to one's ability to meet the challenges that Airmen may face under high-stress conditions.
"If you baseline your physical fitness well, you're going to improve every other marker of your life in some ways, to include your mental health," Wolfe said. "When life gets even harder, you'll be able to bear it more and push through it more if you're physically fit."
Taking care of each other was another topic that took center stage. Wilsbach and Wolfe acknowledged the challenges that Airmen and their families face while serving, such as during deployments, emboldening Wolf Pack Airmen to check up on their friends and loved ones as often as they can. Both senior leaders also encouraged supervisors and commanders to always strive for personal and professional growth within their units.
"There are all kinds of things you can do that really don't cost you all that much, but are really meaningful for people," Wilsbach said. "For the supervisors and the commanders, you also need to make and create environments so that Airmen are growing in a way that's productive, especially to the degree that you might have to fight someday."
The topics of personal readiness and care for Airmen and their families were further discussed during engagements featuring Cindy Wilsbach and Dr. Wolfe.
Meeting with the 8th FW chapel, 8th Force Support Squadron community services flight, the Wolf Pack's key support liaisons and other base agencies, Cindy Wilsbach and Dr. Wolfe gained insight into quality-of-life programs at Kunsan AB. Cindy Wilsbach and Dr. Wolfe also met with leadership and Airmen of the 8th Medical Group, learning more about how the unit sustains medical readiness for approximately 2,800 Airmen stationed at the base.
The visit connected the Air Force's priorities with the mission of the Wolf Pack: defend the base, accept follow-on forces and take the tight north through readiness, modernization and taking care of Airmen and their families.
