COMPACAF visits Yokota

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Christopher Marasky
  • 374th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan --  Gen. Hawk Carlisle, Pacific Air Forces commander, visited Yokota July 13 and 14 to recognize accomplishments and discuss various issues with Airmen.

Carlisle visited the base and recognized Airmen across the spectrum of Yokota's mission thanking them for their hard work, echoing the over-arching message for his all-call.

"You guys have had an amazing year," Carlisle said. "It goes back to Operation Damayan and having aircraft on the ground to help the people of the Philippines, and continued with a number of exercises and operations, such as Christmas Drop, which at 62 years old, is the longest running humanitarian event of its kind that occurs in the U.S. at any level, in any service.

"It's been a busy year, and I know it was incredibly challenging," Carlisle said. "But you set a new bar in what you accomplished and I have the greatest confidence you'll continue to raise the bar."

Another topic discussed was the financial difficulties the Air Force is facing as a whole and the role today's Airmen have in meeting that challenge.

"The fact is that we have a moral obligation to provide the very best Air Force we can produce with the amount of money and resources we've been given," Carlisle said.

Carlisle explained that due to force modernizing requirements and continuing support for base infrastructure, manning was the only area the Air Force could make the necessary reductions in funding.

"This creates challenges, and I know there's a lot of uncertainty in what's going on," Carlisle said. "But I want you to stay with us; we need you more now than ever. We need your personality, your character and integrity more than ever. What we do matters."

Carlisle also discussed upcoming changes to leadership in the Air Force, starting with the newly released Airman Comprehensive Assessment, a revised feedback form that will be part of the new Enlisted Performance Report system.

"This tool applies to all Airmen O-6 and below. It's designed to create candid feedback from supervisor to Airman," Carlisle said. "The idea is to talk to your Airman to understand what they want to do, what their strengths are, what their weaknesses are and what they can work on.

"You have to honestly tell your Airmen where they sit in the organization and what their future potential is, and tell them what they can do better," Carlisle said.

Key topics within the Air Force were also discussed, including sexual assault and suicide prevention.

"Sexual assault is a problem in our Air Force," Carlisle said. "Sexual assault undermines our trust in each other, in our confidence we have each other's back, and it's our responsibility to put a stop to it."

Carlisle highlighted that all Airmen can help prevent suicides.

"It's our responsibility to know our fellow Airmen and to help them when they need it," Carlisle said. "It's our job to understand their life stressors, where they're at, know what's going on in their lives and to find out what we can do to help them.

"We take care of each other and we trust each other; we all have the same mission," Carlisle said.

Before departing, Carlisle took the opportunity to thank Yokota Airmen for their service and commitment to the mission.

"I can't thank you enough for the work that you do, the incredible wing that you are," Carlisle said. "Thank you for the integrity, personality and Air Force core values you show every day. This last year was a shining example of your incredible capability and we need you to keep doing that."