355th Fighter Wing commander updates community partners

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Mya M. Crosby
  • 355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  The 355th Fighter Wing commander met with members of the Davis-Monthan Tucson Valley Council for a quarterly update here Feb. 9.

The DMTVC was established to identify areas of mutual concern between Davis-Monthan AFB and Tucson and Pima County leaders.

Col. Scott Campbell, 355th Fighter Wing commander, and Col. Jeffrey Butler, 162nd Wing vice commander, were the main speakers to update the council on D-M’s current and upcoming operations followed by updates from the local community leaders.

Some of those in attendance represented Sen. John McCain, U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, Arizona House of Representatives and the Air Force Association.

Campbell, also an A-10 pilot, briefed recent news such as the Light Attack Experiment, an effort to test an affordable, yet effective close air support aircraft from existing technology. Campbell also addressed the Air Force’s initiative to replace the wings on A-10s.

Community engagement and D-M’s recent inspection for the Commander-in-Chief’s Excellence award were also briefed.

A large portion of the meeting was devoted to discussing the ongoing Cactus Flag exercise and upcoming Red Flag exercise.

“This is all part of the Chief of Staff’s direction to get us, as commanders, to go back to what we call full-spectrum readiness,” Campbell said. “So instead of having bits and pieces ready on the hook, we have the entire wing ready to deploy and go anywhere in the world. This is 24 hours, 7 days a week — we’re going back to that stage of readiness.”

The next DMTVC meeting is scheduled to be hosted May 11.