Decision changes CRW structure; mission remains Published Nov. 2, 2011 By 621st Contingency Response Wing JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- Air Mobility Command officials announced plans Nov. 2 to restructure the 18th Air Force and U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center as part of an ongoing process enhancing both organizations' effectiveness and efficiency during global air mobility operations. Under the restructuring plan, the 615th Contingency Response Wing at Travis Air Force Base, Calif. will be inactivated and its subordinate groups will align under the 621st Contingency Response Wing here. In addition, the EC will take over administrative management of the 621st CRW from the 18th AF. Additional changes planned include the inactivation of Headquarters, 15th Expeditionary Mobility Task Force, located at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., and Headquarters, 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. AMC will also realign the 18th Air Force's two Air Mobility Operations Wings, the 515th AMOW at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, and the 521st AMOW at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, under the EC. "These evolutionary changes represent a more efficient and effective way of executing our global air mobility mission," said Lt. Gen. Mark Ramsay, 18th Air Force commander. "The reduction of 18th Air Force's span of control allows for greater focus on its mission to present operational flying air mobility forces to U.S. Transportation Command. Ultimately, it will allow the 18th Air Force to put greater focus on the flying mission while the Expeditionary Center focuses on our contingency response, expeditionary combat support training, enroute and installation support, and building partnership missions." Ramsay noted that the changes built upon the success of previous restructuring efforts in January 2011 which had aligned support for air base wings under the EC. He added the current changes would continue the success by placing contingency response and enroute forces under the same commander. The inactivations will result in the loss of 37 active duty military and civilian positions: 31 at Travis and six here. However, a small staff (approximately eight to 10 positions) will be added to the EC here in recognition of its increased workload and expanded responsibilities. While these changes will place units under the EC for administrative purposes, the 18th Air Force will retain its operational responsibility of presenting all 18th Air Force and EC forces to U.S. Transportation Command for mission execution. "Regardless of where we work or whom we work for, our mission as AMC's 9-1-1 emergency response force remains the same," said Col. Chris Patterson, 621st CRW commander. "Our disciplined Airmen will continue to mobilize the fight, provide relief and advance the peace." Servicemembers in eliminated positions will be reassigned through the normal assignment process, which may or may not entail a physical move. Civilian employees affected by the changes will receive guidance on placement and reassignment options from local leaders and their servicing civilian personnel functions. AMC officials have stressed the command's commitment to minimizing the impacts of the changes to Airmen, civilian employees, families, and supporting communities. "We face unprecedented challenges in the arenas of contingency response, expeditionary combat support training, enroute and installation support, and building partner capacity. These challenges require us to structure our organizations to provide a clearer focus to address them effectively," said Maj. Gen. Bill Bender, Expeditionary Center commander. "Expanding the EC role to include the mission sets of enroute support and contingency response makes sense: it creates synergies by bringing together the education and execution elements of expeditionary combat support under the same umbrella." Although a specific date has not yet been determined for the restructuring, officials expect the changes to take place in mid-to-late 2012.