23 WG commander hosts all call

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Rachel Perkinson
  • 23rd Wing Public Affairs

Col. Russell Cook, 23rd Wing commander, hosted his first wing all call at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, July 23, 2021.

During the all call, Cook, along with Chief Master Sgt. Jimmy Wilfong, 23rd WG command chief, highlighted his priorities and where the Air Force is headed, and outlined how the Flying Tigers will continue to be Air Combat Command’s premiere lead wing.

Quoting Chief of Staff of the Air Force General C.Q. Brown Jr., Cook stated you can either drive or ride.

“I can tell you right now as Flying Tigers we are going to drive,” Cook said. “We’re going to push (forward) and be out front just as we already are.”

In order to do that, Cook laid out the wing’s priorities of mission and family -- the same priorities he remembers being laid out for him when he was a captain in the 41st Rescue Squadron more than a decade ago.

“You’ve seen the map,” Cook said highlighting the mission priority. “I don’t know where we’re going, but we need to be ready to go when called upon. Our goal is to be resilient, adaptable and ready Airmen who generate combat forces to lead the fight anytime, anywhere.”

Flying Tigers are no stranger to combat, he continued, as combatant commanders have been calling upon them since Gen. Claire Chennault led the American volunteer group and the first Flying Tigers out the door in the 1940s. Combat has since evolved as situations around the world arose, and the Airmen of today need to adapt to meet the needs of tomorrow.

“What we have to do is refocus and transition from violent extremist organizations to this peer strategic competition and be able to go anywhere around the world,” Cook said. “We’re taking pragmatic steps here at Moody focusing on being combat ready for the next fight and being lead-wing ready.”

The lead-wing concept is a strategy where multiple mission sets will align under the command and control of one pre-identified unit. For example, the 23rd WG could be in charge of employing not only the attack and rescue mission sets, but any other fighter asset assigned, such as an F-22 Raptor or F-35 Lightning II aircraft. This requires a holistic approach to Airman readiness with a focus on agile combat employment.

“(Airman readiness) is the most critical element for us,” Cook said. “Aircraft don’t fight. Radios don’t do command and control – Airmen do. As a lead wing, we will run at a fast marathon pace, but not a sprint because if we burn out all of our Airmen, then it’s all for nothing.”

The word ‘Airman’ also includes family members, Cook said, which leads into the second wing priority: family. To Cook, that means more than his wife and two children, but extends to his military friends and wingmen.

Wilfong reiterated to Airmen the importance of tying both mission and family together. He said that in his 25 years, he has deployed eight times, seven of which he knew when and where he was headed long before it was time to leave.

“We’re not going to have that notice like we had before,” said Wilfong about the agile combat employment model. “That’s a lot of stress on your family. We’re giving you the warning order now that you need to keep yourself and your family ready to go. We’re asking you now, to look at things through a different lens, because we have to.”

ACE is the Air Force’s newest warfighting concept to rapidly deploy aircraft, equipment and multi-capable Airmen to meet combatant commanders’ need for a lighter, leaner more lethal footprint downrange -- a relevant factor considering the 23rd Wing is the second most deployable base in ACC.

“We are Air Combat Command,” Wilfong said. “We are the Flying Tigers. We are charged with protecting the nation. The environment that you operate in everyday and the way you talk to your family about what we do, being a warfighter is super important in that conversation. I have no doubt that you (all) are up for this challenge of what this next year is going to bring for the Flying Tigers.”

Echoing the chief, Cook reassured the audience that the Flying Tigers are ready for the future.

“This is the right wing, and these are all the right Airmen to get this done,” he said. “Never forget who you are, never forget that you’re Flying Tigers. Never forget your mission of Attack-Rescue-Prevail. Tigers lead.”

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