SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. —
With some level of involvement in nearly every military operation, the Airmen from Air Mobility Command are known for constantly having a global impact, and 2024 was no exception.
In early 2024, the Department of the Air Force unveiled sweeping plans for reshaping, refocusing, and reoptimizing the Air Force and Space Force to ensure continued supremacy in our respective domains while better posturing the services to deter and, if necessary, prevail in an era of Great Power Competition. AMC leaned in on the Air Force effort, starting work on its units of action structure, integrating into the newly established Integrated Capabilities Command (Provisional) and preparing for next year’s exercise series in the Pacific theater, including Exercise Mobility Guardian. AMC also moved out on updated priorities, binned under Airmen, Mission and Commitment.
Airmen
AMC focused on strengthening relationships with communities and address barriers to military service, particularly within indigenous communities. The command partnered with other major commands, Air Force Recruiting Command and veterans to conduct outreach with the Lakota and Dakota Nations in the Standing Rock Community, Tribal Natives in Alaska and Cherokee Nation.
The command’s engagements focused on increasing native recruiting efforts, promoting Air Force career opportunities, gaining awareness of entry-to-service barriers, and recognizing native veterans. Students from local schools were able to talk with Airmen, see STEM exhibits, and walk through static aircraft, giving them a front row seat at experiencing life in the Air Force.
The command also prioritized training and innovation through participation in several large-scale exercises to include Valiant Shield, Global Thunder, and the Bamboo Eagle series.
The two iterations of Bamboo Eagle in 2024 enabled AMC Airmen to train through contingency response units, tactical airlift, air-to-air refueling and command and control capabilities. During the exercise, more than 3,000 service members operated, maintained, and supported over 150 aircraft in more than 10 locations, showcasing that the Joint Force can adapt, deploy, and redeploy rapidly and overcome challenges of time.
“Exercising the mobility forces at a Joint level allows us to project, sustain and employ the entirety of the Joint Force,” said Gen. Johnny Lamontagne, AMC commander at the Air and Space Forces Association Air, Space and Cyber Conference held in September. “We are getting a good idea of what that looks like early, this is what we plan to do with Mobility Guardian 2025, getting those reps and sets in to help our forces.”
Mission
AMC Airmen enabled operations across all geographic combatant commands with more than 24,100 missions. These missions included about 120 exercise-enabling missions and roughly 400 aeromedical evacuations.
Some of these missions also included humanitarian airdrops. Notably, the humanitarian airdrops into Gaza demonstrated the command’s ability to deliver at speed and scale. AMC partnered with Air Forces Central to employ C-130Js and C-17s in theater to deliver more than a million meals over the course of 100 missions. The operation upheld timely and precise humanitarian aid in one of the largest airdrops since the Berlin Airlift.
Along with the humanitarian operations in Gaza, the command persevered into its third year of support for Ukraine, assisting the movement of more than 250 million pounds of security assistance cargo. Airmen ensured mission success, meeting a periodic mission increase from the fall of 2021.
AMC was integral to several other U.S. global aid efforts as well.
The 621st Contingency Response Wing played a key role in providing relief supplies to support Haiti’s efforts to restore stability. By mid-May, more than 20 sorties and approximately 577 tons of cargo were airlifted into Haiti as part of the Multinational Security Support mission. Within the same timeframe of support for Haiti, AMC supported the orderly and safe withdrawal of U.S. forces from Niger. The same contingency response forces that supported Haiti were also essential to the withdrawal from Niger. With AMC’s rapid response, the withdrawal from Niger was complete six weeks ahead of the original deadline.
In its commitment to project and sustain combat power, the command proved the viability of mobility aircraft and maximum endurance operations.
Team McConnell conducted a 45-hour nonstop, westbound circumnavigation endurance flight in a KC-46 Pegasus. Nicknamed Project Magellan, the milestone showcased the strength of the Air Force’s collective capabilities as a refueler enabled bomber, airlift, and fighter missions in a single, continuous flight.
In the fall, AMC welcomed a new commander, Gen. Johnny Lamontagne.
“To the men and women of Air Mobility Command, we stand here today on the shoulders of giants that have preceded us both personally and organizationally,” said Lamontagne, in his first remarks as AMC commander. “Our nation and our predecessors possess an asymmetric advantage, and that asymmetric advantage is the ability to project power anywhere in the world at the time and place of our choosing. And only this command can do it!”
Commitment
Under the Air Force’s new deployment model, the first Air Task Force, the 12th ATF, was activated under AMC. ATF’s will serve as a ready unit of action better posturing forces toward Great Power Competition.
In October, more than 100 senior leaders came together to discuss AMC’s next steps to reoptimize for Great Power Competition. During the offsite, the team developed projected challenges and potential solutions for posturing mobility forces for GPC. Topics discussed included AMC’s nominations for Deployed Combat Wings, reorganization of the NAF to optimize command and control efforts, and development of the command’s operational priorities.
Later that month, Air Force leaders and industry partners gathered at the Airlift/Tanker Association Symposium, where Lamontagne revealed his commander’s intent. In his address, Lamontagne bucketed his intent in three focus areas: Airmen, Mission and Commitment.
The symposium also highlighted the notable year of mobility operations, previewed the work ahead, and stressed the importance of preparing for tomorrow’s fight.
“It’s your time to lean into this…” said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said at the A/TA Symposium. “The chapter of the future is unwritten. So, what I’m asking is pick up the pen, and let’s write that next chapter together. This is the mobility moment.”
This next year will inevitably be another busy year for the command as it continues to support global mobility operations, evolve for Air Force reoptimization, and gears up to execute Exercise Mobility Guardian 2025. None of it would be possible without the remarkable Airmen who remain committed to the mission and many yet-to-be-determined operations, activities, and investments.
