The Mission, The Airmen, Our Leadership Teams and The Community…
General Thomas Bussiere is Commander, Air Force Global Strike Command and Commander, Air Forces Strategic – Air, U.S. Strategic Command, Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. In a recent visit to Minot Air Force Base, we sat down and discussed the purpose of his trip to Minot Air Force Base and touched on the importance of Minot Air Force Base to the Air Force, and the United States.
What is the general purpose of your trip to Minot Air Force Base today?
General Bussiere:“I wanted to come up to Minot and spend Thursday and Friday with the 91st Missile Wing and 5th Bomb Wing. I spent time with the Wing Commanders, the Command Chiefs and the Squadron Commanders as well as do all calls with our Airmen in both wings.
I wanted to basically thank them for everything they’ve done this past year, and to congratulate them on their performance and their professionalism, their discipline and talk about the results of the inspections that we had this past couple of months.
What have been the changes you have seen at Minot Air Force Base since you took over as commander of Global Strike Command?
General Bussiere: I guess I wouldn’t necessarily characterize them changes because the value and the importance of this installation is enduring. Whether it’s me, or my predecessor or my successor, the prominence and importance of Minot Air Force Base for the Air Force and the nation doesn’t wane. I often look at the sign that is over the gate that says, “Only The Best Come North”, I kind of twist that a little bit and we say that we come north to become your best, right? Minot is a special place. It’s the only place in the Department (Of Defense) where we have a missile wing and a bomber wing; two thirds of the triad are right here in Minot, North Dakota…and it is in my humblest opinion, the most important base we have, and it will remain the most important base we have because of the mission it performs. So, coming up here and thanking our airmen and thanking our leadership teams for what they do is important.
With the success of recent inspections and soon the awarding of The Omaha Trophy; what does this mean to Minot Air Force Base and the community of Minot?
General Bussiere: So if you take what I just said for granted, that Minot is the center of gravity because of both wings, the 91st Missile Wing and the 5th Bomb Wing, the air leg and the land leg of the triad, and you kind of wrap that around the specialness of the community that supports the missions here of both wings…and our Airmen and their families, that’s really the secret sauce of Minot Air Force Base. It’s the absolute amazing community support, not only here but across the fabric of North Dakota. Task Force 21 is a fine example of that support. There’s a continued advocacy and education across our Federal Government, the State Legislature, the Federal Government representatives, and the chambers; they are constantly trying to educate and build a deeper understanding of what this base does, what this region does, and what our wings do for our nation. It’s (Minot) is a special place, The Magic City, it’s magic for a reason. It’s not just a bumper sticker, it’s magic because of the people.
Does Minot have that reputation throughout the Air Force?
General Bussiere: I won’t be naïve and say that everybody understands the value, purpose and value of this installation (Minot AFB). But it’s my job, and with your (The Northern Sentry) help, with your publication and the help of civic leaders will help with education across the fabric of the nation and the government…I try to differentiate between people not understanding how important it is, but the fact that it is. I see it as my job, or our jobs, to make sure we propagate that across the government and the nation. Because our citizens of the United States of America need to understand how important this installation is, they need to understand what our Airmen do in the 91st Missile Wing and the 5th Bomb Wing every day, or every week, or every month for our nation’s defense and that of our allies and partners.
Looking ahead, what do you see as important steps and challenges ahead for Minot Air Force Base?
General Bussiere: There’s a lot of opportunity in the future as we transition from the B-52 H to the B-52 J model, we modernize the motors, the radar and avionics that’s on that weapons system, that is certainly a great opportunity for this installation and the wing, the 5th Bomb Wing. Also, as we transition for the Minuteman III to the Sentinel weapons system in the 91st Missile Wing, there’s opportunity. This was the first wing, 1970, the first wing to be fielding the Minuteman III weapons system was the 91st Missile Wing, that’s 55 years ago that we fielded the Minuteman III. As we transition from the Minuteman III to the Sentinel weapons system, that will be an enduring transition for this region as one of our 3 missile wings. We did the groundbreaking last year on the combines helicopter and response force facility as we field the Grey Wolf, the MH 139 helicopter to replace the UH1 Novembers, so that’s another opportunity for new weapons system here in Minot, North Dakota.
As we build out our new facilities to host both the bomb wing and the ICBM, there will be construction and new military facilities that will be put upon for the installation to host over the next 2 decades. We have new weapons systems that we’ll be fielding for both the bomber and the ICBM leg, and that will be another opportunity for growth in Minot Air Force Base. It’s a testament to the importance of the mission, the dedication of our nation to invest in these capabilities to defend the United State, our allies and our partners. If you look at all of the other installations in the department of the Air Force, even in Global Strike Command, this is the only one we have that has both of them (missiles and bombers), and if you take that mission piece and you wrap it around the support that we get from the community, it’s pretty hard to find another location like this.
What makes Minot Air Force Base so important to the defense of our country?
General Bussiere: The mission, the Airmen, our leadership teams and the community. What’s really interesting to me, and it’s not necessarily unique to Minot Air Force Base, we really see it across the fabric of the Air Force and Global Strike Command…the number of first term Airmen that are on their first operational assignment…they are performing a mission that’s not easy, that’s really important, and them having the recognition that what they are doing is really important; it’s really fun to watch. They are doing so well because they have great supervisors, great commanders, great command teams, great senior NCO’s, and NCO’s that help them do their J-O-B, that’s really fun to watch…you can see it in their eyes. Airmen don’t really say much, but they can’t hide how they feel. The Airmen around here (Minot Air Force Base) are pretty proud of what they just did, pretty proud of what they are doing and they are fired up and motivated…that’s pretty cool.
I just want to say that in this last inspection the 91st Missile Wing and the 5th Bomb Wing knocked it out of the park!
