Air Force Secretary visits Ali Airmen

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. James A. Rush
  • 407th AEG Public Affairs
The Secretary of the Air Force is now more than a picture on the wall to one Tinker Airman assigned here.
The Honorable Michael Wynne toured the 407th Air Expeditionary Group here Mar. 28, and one of the many briefings he received came from Senior Airman Byron Kluewer, a 407th Expeditionary Communications Squadron base infrastructure technician.
"He was a very user-friendly person, easy to talk to," Airman Kluewer said. "It almost felt like he was a relative instead of someone in the chain of command. He made the briefing go a lot easier than I thought it would."
The assembled 407th ECS treated the Secretary like one of the family giving him an enthusiastic triple dose of their unit "Reaper!" cheer.
"We showed a lot of morale, which was very important," said Airman Kleuwer. "It lets him know we're not letting anything get us down. Whatever is thrown at us, we get right back to the fight."
With one-and-a-half days to rehearse, Airman Kluewer had to cram a lot of material. Still he felt the briefing on communications upgrades past, present and future was well-received by the knowledgeable audience.
"I think he knew everything I was talking about. [In fact] I think he knows at least a little part of everything that is going on in the Air Force. He didn't have very many questions pertaining to the equipment. Instead he asked where equipment was going and to whom," the Airman said.
Secretary Wynne, joined by U.S. Central Command Air Forces Commander Lt. Gen. Gary North, began his visit with a group mission briefing. Col. Larry Kauffman, 407th AEG commander, provided the initial presentation.
More detailed briefings at the 407th AEG's squadrons followed as the secretary heard about the many projects undertaken to improve Ali Base. Airmen from security forces, services, communication, civil engineering, airlift, operations and logistics gave details about their units' accomplishments during Air Expeditionary Force 5/6.
Leaving behind more capable bases for the next group is one of the strong points of the AEF system, according to Secretary Wynne. He last stopped at Ali Base only 18 months ago, but still was impressed with the many changes.
"You get to be here for a short time," he said. "You see what it's like when you arrive and you see how you make it better."
Secretary Wynne's visit was part of a two-base tour of Air Force units in Iraq. He flew into Kirkuk Air Base earlier in the day. During his Ali stay, he repeatedly thanked Airmen for their hard work and for representing the United States honorably.
"We say that every Airman is an ambassador and you can look in the mirror in the morning and say that ambassador is me," he said. "[Through you] people can see that America is a good place to be from."
Prior to leaving, the group's most recent monthly award nominees joined Secretary Wynne for dinner in the headquarters conference room.