JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J.– Airmen and leadership across Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst hosted U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Daniel Tulley, commander of Air Mobility Command, and Chief Master Sgt. Raun Howell, AMC command chief, during a base visit, Aug. 11, 2026.
Welcomed by Col. Michael Stefanovic, 87th Air Base Wing commander, and other installation and mission partner leaders, the AMC command team utilized the visit not as a standard orientation, but as a platform to engage Airmen and introduce their priorities.
Throughout an all call and a series of small group mentorship sessions, Tulley challenged the installation to fundamentally shift its paradigm around readiness, modernization and warfighting. “If we go to war with a near-peer advisory, it's going to be dramatically different than what we've seen in the past,” Tulley said. “We need to get ready for it every single day.”
That readiness, Tulley emphasized, extends far beyond aircraft availability and flightline metrics. As a warfighting command that plans, integrates and fights alongside every combatant command, AMC relies heavily on tactical level leaders and individual Airmen who project and sustain combat power under increasingly contested conditions – not being afraid to exercise decentralized command where needed.
“You cannot have a ready unit unless you have ready individuals to fight and win at a moment’s notice,” Tulley emphasized.
Echoing this operational imperative, Howell stressed that combat readiness falls on every shoulder across the mobility enterprise, regardless of Air Force Specialty Code or operational background.
“If you are looking at fly, fix and fight to win, everybody within Air Mobility Command has a responsibility to get after that,” Howell said. “It’s in our training; we are all capable of it.”
To meet any challenge, AMC is heavily focused on fleet modernization, survivability and digital integration. By leveraging advanced data analytics, artificial intelligence capabilities and smart risk-taking at the lowest levels, the command aims to operate with the speed and agility required to outpace evolving global threats.
“I will set exercise objectives that matter to protect your life and enable you to do your mission,” Tulley told the joint base. “I'm not training for an inspection. I'm training for combat. Train like you fight, train like you mean it.”