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Brig. Gen. Bender takes reins at U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Zachary Wilson
  • U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  Brig. Gen. Bill Bender accepted command of the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center today in a change-of-command ceremony in Grace Peterson Hall Oct. 26 at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

The former director of Warfighter Systems Integration, Office of Information Dominance and Chief Information Officer, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force at the Pentagon, replaces Brig. Gen. Richard Devereaux who was selected for reassignment. General Devereaux has been tapped to become director of Operational Planning, Policy and Strategy, deputy chief of staff for Operations, Plans and Requirements at Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.

In his remarks, General Bender, a KC-135 and C-17 pilot, noted that "I have gained a huge appreciation for the mission here at the Expeditionary Center as a mobility pilot."

After thanking the special guests in attendance to include civic leaders, joint base leaders as well as his father and other extended family and friends, General Bender highlighted that the most important tasking the Expeditionary Center has is to "support warfighting commanders and ensure we are always able to adjust our mission to meet their needs."

"The mission of the Expeditionary Center is built upon the following pillars: Pride, Preparation, Professionalism and Patriotism," he said.

Through its Mobility Operations School, Expeditionary Operations School and Resources Directorate, the Expeditionary Center provides advanced combat support training and education for Airmen before they deploy. The center has more than 380 personnel and offers 77 in-residence courses and 16 web-based courses, surging over the past year to graduate over 24,000 students.

General Bender holds a bachelor's degree in Engineering from Manhattan College, N.Y and master's degrees in business administration from Embry Riddle University, Fla., and in national strategic studies from Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Penn. His commands include a C-17 squadron at McChord, an air mobility operations group at Charleston AFB, an Air Refueling Wing at Grand Forks AFB and an airlift wing at Ramstein AB.

"I look forward to working with all of you at the Center," he said to the EC Eagles in attendance.

Presiding official at the change of command ceremony, General Raymond E. Johns, who leads Air Mobility Command, noted that, "A wonderful commander leaves and another comes in." General Johns also noted how pleased he was to have to chance to address the Expeditionary Center community.

"You save lives by virtue of what you do," he said. "You provide the skill sets so Airmen can be competent and confident in their missions. I can't tell you how proud I am of you; you have worked weekends, long days and this has not gone unnoticed."

General Devereaux and his wife Elizabeth leave the Center with a number of accomplishments achieved during his command. Chief among them was the creation of the 422nd Joint Tactics Squadron, being nominated as AMC's representative for the 2009 Brewer Trophy, and was the vanguard for the Air Force's newest pre-deployment training program, Combat Airmen Skills Training. The Expeditionary Center's Eagle Flag featured several firsts, including the first Joint Task Force Port Opening exercise with an Air National Guard CRG and the first ever Close the Operating Location exercise which validated key elements of AMC's latest CONOP as well as a Defense Support to Civil Authorities event that exercised emergency responders from both the military and local communities this summer. Additionally, the Center hosted a Civic Leader Outreach Day, increasing and building relationships with local leaders.

"The biggest (highlight) was standing up our new 422nd Joint Tactics Squadron, which is rapidly becoming the lesson learned repository and TTP [tactics, techniques, procedures] engine for the expeditionary combat support community," General Devereaux said. "Of course the ultimate highlight was anytime one of our graduates said, 'My EC training really helped me do my job . . . or gave me the confidence to go into combat. . . or saved my life.' That kind of feedback is priceless"

For future goals, General Devereaux noted there was more to do in the expeditionary training venue.

"I think we can do more to better integrate, synchronize, and standardize training across the expeditionary combat support community," he said. "I think by continuing to work with (Air Education and Training Command) and other functional training venues, we can be more efficient and effective with the training we provide our great Airmen."