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Site activation task force meets at Scott

  • Published
  • By Capt. Jennifer Howsare
  • 126th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  A site activation task force, or SATAF, team met from Jan. 26-30 to continue developing the KC-135 active association.

The team consisted of members from Air Mobility Command; the National Guard Bureau and McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., which will be the servicing base for active duty members assigned to the association. Key players from the 126th Air Refueling Wing and 375th Airlift Wing met with the team during the Sunday visit.

The men and women of the 126th ARW and Scott are no strangers to transformation, integration and future team force. The KC-135 active association that is developing between the 126th ARW and the 375th AW is another step forward in Scott's team-force efforts. The association is a Total Force Initiative and will yet again bring various units at Scott together as the Air Force continues its evolution into the 21st century.

"An active association for the 126th ARW represents the right vision for our future as total force partners at Scott," said Col. Pete Nezamis, 126th ARW commander. "Increased efficiencies combining the best practices of AMC and the Air National Guard will provide greater aircraft availability and utilization, increasing the capability to support worldwide aerial refueling requirements. The benefits from these synergies are immeasurable to today's Airmen."

The active association will be between the 126th ARW and an active duty squadron, yet to be named.

The active duty squadron will be attached to the 22nd Air Refueling Wing at McConnell AFB with the 375 AW providing base support.

"Having the active associate unit stand up at Scott is another testimony of how we enable combat power," said Col. Gary Goldstone, 375th AW commander. "As part of the total force integration, this transition allows better use of resources and manpower to ensure we better accomplish the mission both at home and during contingency deployments."
During the visit, the team worked to answer questions dealing with manpower, facilities, funding, communications, medical, base support, operations and many other issues.
While their hard work was met with results, many questions still remain and there is more work ahead.

A complete SATAF report detailing the findings and agreed actions is expected in approximately two weeks.

The same team met here at Scott in October for a site visit, which was a preliminary step in the SATAF process.