Gen. Johnny Lamontagne, commander of Air Mobility Command, participated in a panel discussing the importance of fueling and sustaining the fight for global power projection with Lt. Gen. John P. Healy, Chief of the Air Force Reserve and Air Force Reserve Command commander, March 5, at the 2025 Air & Space Forces Association Warfare Symposium.
The AFA panel was moderated by Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Larry Stutzriem, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Air & Space Forces Association.
During the panel, Lamontagne spoke on the importance of balancing the demands on AMC’s ability to provide credible air mobility capability and capacity as the backbone of Joint Force maneuver.
“We are routinely challenged to meet requirements around the world, both on the airlift and air refueling side of the house, in competition and in crisis,” stated Lamontagne. “We cannot afford to be static, and the good news is, our Air Force hasn’t been static.”
Integration across the Total Force is an integral capability for AMC in meeting those challenges. The ability to tap into Total Force Integration gives AMC mobilization options that provide both the flexibility and responsiveness needed to meet the Air Force’s global commitments.
“We are committed to being great teammates, and we are great teammates. We rely on the reserves. That’s true at our headquarters. It’s true at our air operations center,” Lamontagne explained. “You can’t tell the difference between an active-duty Airman and a reservist on the flight line or in the air or the superb folks. It is a really powerful way to do business.”
Healy expanded on the critical role the Air Reserve plays in global mobility operations.
“We’re an efficient force, we’re an effective force, we’re an accessible force, and we’re a supremely experienced force,” stated Healy describing how the Air Force Reserve fit into different mission sets and other Major Commands including Air Mobility Command.
Healy shared how Mobility Reserve Airmen responded to a humanitarian emergency in the Levant.
“We had folks at the 315th in Charleston who volunteered on a moment’s notice. We generated 32 aircraft out the door as a total force. We put nine crews on the road within 48 hours, 1000s of tons of cargo moved. I mean, that’s what we are. We are going to stand to the call when we need to.”
In terms of advancements in the current fleet, he highlighted the priority of developing connectivity initiatives in tanker operations. This was recently demonstrated in Exercise Bamboo Eagle 25-1 where AMC was able to further develop connectivity capabilities.
“Two of the big priorities for us is that connectivity, both from being able to sense and make sense of threats,” said Lamontagne. “We’ve got to be dynamic, respond to opportunities and be able to respond to threats.”
He also highlighted AMC’s continued development of tactics, techniques and procedures through exercises that ensure Airmen are mission ready for any known or emerging threat. Mobility Guardian 25, taking place later this summer, will be AMC’s opportunity to put survivability, connectivity, and agility to the test.
“We’ve got our Mobility Guardian series of exercises that is now scaling to an Air Force service level exercise so that we can exercise not just at speed and at scale, but range as well,” Lamontagne explained.
Lamontagne touched on the role of Airmen in fueling and sustaining the fight.
“We need to start normalizing the acceptance of risk and understanding of risk so that our Airmen know we’ve got their back all the way up the chain and they’re able to be effective with the core,” Lamontagne said. “That’s the core duties and capabilities of our most extremely capable Airmen and making sure they’re empowered to do the right thing well.”
