Seventeenth Air Force stands up

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Jim Fisher
  • Seventeenth Air Force Public Affairs
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany --  The air component for U.S. Africa Command declared initial operational capability Sept. 18 in an assumption of command ceremony on Ramstein which also celebrated the unit's Oct. 1 activation. 

Seventeenth Air Force, also to be known as Air Forces Africa, marked the coming activation by handing the unit guidon to Maj. Gen. Ronald R. Ladnier. U.S. AFRICOM Commander Army Gen. William E. "Kip" Ward presided. 

General Ward emphasized the mission 17th Air Force has been given, saying Air Forces Africa would be a major enabler for U.S. AFRICOM. 

"Our partners in Africa want to build professional militaries that respect the rule of law and serve their people," General Ward said. "As the air component of U.S. Africa command, you will be responsible for the effort in helping to bring about ever increasing levels of air domain safety and security in Africa."
Specifically, 17th AF will support U.S. AFRICOM via command and control of air forces to conduct sustained security engagement and operations as directed to promote air safety, security and development. 

Considering Africa's challenges, General Ladnier said that the mission is not for the faint of heart. 

"Promise and opportunity sit side by side with disease, war and desperate poverty," the new commander said, explaining that 17th AF and U.S. AFRICOM would work toward improving these conditions by helping Africans to meet these challenges.
 
Like USAFRICOM, 17th AF is not set up like a traditional combatant command component, according to General Ladnier. Its focus is upon continued support to existing U.S. government initiatives to assist African nations in their goal of conflict prevention. A critical element of this effort is fostering cooperation with regional organizations such as the African Union and other partners on the continent. 

Operations in this non-tradition context will require airpower, and that's where 17th AF comes in. Historically, it's a reconnection with the unit's lineage and African roots. Seventeenth Air Force was first activated in 1953 in Morocco, before spending decades at Ramstein and nearby Sembach. Conducting various missions under U.S. Air Forces in Europe, 17th AF was inactivated in 1996.