BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- Secretary of the Air Force, Michael Donley, visited with Airmen of the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing, Aug. 29, during his second visit to Afghanistan in 10 months.
Mr. Donley spoke to approximately 300 Airmen on the steps of an old Russian air-traffic control tower known as the 'Crow's Nest' at Bagram Air Field.
He used the opportunity to thank the Airmen on BAF and relay a message from Air Force chief of staff, Gen. Norton Schwartz.
"I can hardly express the pride Gen. Schwartz and I feel in the work that you do here and the contributions that Airmen make in the joint fight," Donley said.
Donley went on to list the many missions Airmen are carrying out on a daily basis in support of the joint fight.
"From providing airlift from the continental United States into the area of responsibility and back; providing armed over watch for coalition forces; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions; Special Operations Forces; Combat Search and Rescue; providing electronic warfare capability; all of this and more, demonstrate Airmen are 'all in,'" said Donley. "We're doing it with the total force of Active Duty, Guard and Reserve Airmen, civilians and contractors."
Just days before his visit, Air Force airlift crews flew 149 airlift missions, delivered 595 tons of cargo and transported approximately 4,000 passengers. This included about 110,000 pounds of aerial resupply cargo dropped over Afghanistan.
Donley continued to praise the Airmen for their dedication to the preservation of human life, highlighting the efforts of the Air Force and joint aero-medical evacuation teams.
"We're providing aero-medical evacuation of wounded [including coalition forces and civilians] from the battlefield back to theater hospitals so effectively that it has reduced casualties in this conflict to the lowest rate that it has been in any previous conflict," he said.
"The scope of mission you are undertaking in the joint fight is truly breath-taking. Without our Air Force, the joint fight would simply grind to a halt," said Mr. Donley.