Twelfth Air Force (Air Forces Southern) commander visits Creech

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Alice Moore
  • 432d Wing Public Affairs
CREECH AFB, Nev. -- (ACCNS) --  The Twelfth Air Force (Air Forces Southern) commander visited Creech Dec. 8 to meet with Airmen of the 432d Wing and get a first-hand look at operations and quality of life here. 

This was the fourth time Lt. Gen. Norman Seip, has been to Creech. He said he's been impressed at how far the base has come along since the 432nd Wing stood up in May 2007. General Seip presided over the 432nd Wing's activation ceremony when Col. Chris Chambliss assumed command. 

"I feel like a proud father of the 432nd because I was able to stand the wing up here and hand the guideon over to Col. Chambliss, and just watch this place take off," General Seip said. "What impresses me the most no matter how many times I come here are our Airmen and their dedication and focus to the mission as well as their leadership and supervisory skills." 

General Seip said he was also impressed by operations within the 432nd Wing. To him, it's apparent that the wing is doing its part of the Chief of Staff of the Air Force's vision of fly, fight and win. 

"It's the 432nd team that has come together to ensure that we graduate the students so that we can continue to accelerate the CAPs (Combat Air Patrols) that we're required to stand up as well as day-in-and-day-out, 24/7, 365 days a year, service to those CAPs," he said. 

General Seip said to him it's clear that a vital part to the 432nd's wing mission is to provide another tool for not only the Global War on Terrorism, but also needs of the combatant commander. 

"We've trained aircrews and provided them the right support with the right maintainers, right equipment and resources to provide the combatant commander the support needed," General Seip said. 

With the Unmanned Aircraft Systems mission more and more in the public eye, General Seip said he thinks one of the challenges of the mission is keeping leadership informed. 

"I think our challenge is education and making sure our leadership across the DoD understands that UAS is more than that air vehicle, that Reaper or that Global Hawk. UAS is an architecture," he said. "Just because you may be producing the airplane, it doesn't necessarily mean that you've got all the other pieces in place to put that CAP up that someone is looking for." 

General Seip went on to say that leadership understands the appetite for what the UAS mission provides, but emphasized all the parts which make up the UAS capability. 

"We get it, and we're way ahead of our program of record for standing up the CAPs," he said. "But we need to make sure that as we move forward, as a weapons system, we need to recognize all the parts of it, which includes the sensor operator, the pilots, maintainers and intel (intelligence) folks who analyze the full motion video and the physical hardware you need to establish a CAP and maintain it. This is all a part of that overall architecture of the UAS." 

General Seip said the demand for UAS goes beyond Iraq and Afghanistan. He said that whether it's a MQ-1 Predator, MQ-9 Reaper or RQ-4 Global Hawk, there is definitely a need for the UAS capability in other areas of the world. 

"They'll be no lack of combatant commanders out there who won't want a CAP to be reestablished in their part of the world when there's a CAP freed up in Iraq or Afghanistan. Whether it's supporting counter drug operations for SOUTHCOM (Southern Command) or just being a part of the ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) architecture that allows us to gather information and share information with our partner nations, there is a high demand." 

During the general's visit to the base, he was able to get a first-hand look at various facilities currently at Creech as well as future facilities being stood up. When asked since his previous visits if he's noticed any significant changes or improvements with the base, General Seip said he's noticed the various military construction projects. 

"Every time I come back here, it looks like another two or three buildings have been put up," General Seip said. "I've noticed all the great work by our 820th Red Horse, which is also a part of 12th Air Force, so it's been a real team effort that's contributing to the quality of job and life here at Creech." 

Prior to departing the base, General Seip said it's been a pleasure to return to Creech and visit the 432nd Wing. He said that it's apparent that Airmen here are focused, professional and motivated. He also said that he sees the UAS mission continuing to grow. 

"I foresee a growth in capability within just the number of CAPs we stand up, the mission sets those CAPS might perform and the technology that we can put on it to achieve the right affects," he said. The future is UAS and the future is now."