Assistant Secretaries of the Navy and Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, Hon. Gregory J. Slavonic and Hon. Shon J. Manasco, visited Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, May 7-8.

The purpose of the visit was to see first-hand the headquarters of the Air Force Sustainment Center and receive briefings on the symbiotic U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy working relationship, which began in May 1992 when the Navy’s Strategic Communications Wing ONE (SCW-1) was established and included relocation of Fleet Reconnaissance Squadron’s 3 and 4 from Barbers Point, Hawaii and Patuxent River, Maryland.  

During the visit, the assistant secretaries visited the massive Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex (ALC), which has facilities and personnel that provide depot-level maintenance repair and overhaul on the Air Force’s B-1, B-2 and B-52 bombers, as well as the KC-135 aerial refueling tanker and the Navy’s E-6B Mercury. Mr. Manasco noted, “I cannot overstate Oklahoma’s importance to the military’s mission and our nation’s security. Its military installations not only provide invaluable training and materiel support to warfighters but also serve as Oklahoma’s single-largest economic engine. This mutual value has forged an unbreakable bond.”

Lt. Gen. Gene Kirkland, Air Force Sustainment Center commander, and his staff provided the briefings and tour of the ALC and the base, including the site of the new KC-46A Sustainment Campus currently under construction. Capt. Michael Black, SCW-1 commander, then provided a tour of his Wing’s headquarters and the E-6B aircraft. SCW-1 is responsible for manning, training and equipping the Navy squadrons responsible for the command, control and communications to the nation’s nuclear triad of strategic bombers, submarines and intercontinental ballistic missile silos.

Both the Air Force and Navy meetings included discussions about manpower challenges, hiring processes and strategic communications systems.

“This was a fantastic visit to Oklahoma, home of one of the most vital commands in the Navy,” Slavonic said. “We saw how the Navy and Air Force work together to accomplish their individual missions in support of our National Defense Strategy. To perform these difficult missions requires great leadership and the best trained and equipped people to do the job – both uniformed and civilian personnel.”

Slavonic added, “A key ingredient to the success of the Air Force-Navy teams is the support provided by the local communities to the Airmen, Sailors and their families. Without this strong support, their jobs would be more difficult.”

The assistant secretaries are responsible for the overall supervision and oversight of manpower and reserve component affairs of their departments, including the development of programs and policy related to military personnel (active, reserve, retired), their family members, and the civilian workforce; the tracking of the contractor workforce; and the oversight of Human Resources systems within the Department of Defense.

SCW-1 is home to more than 1,700 active duty Sailors, 60 contractors and 30 DoD civilians. These dedicated Sailors and civilians team together to provide maintenance, security, operations, administration, training and logistics support for the Navy’s E-6B fleet. Tinker Air Force Base is Oklahoma’s largest single-site employer, with more than 26,000 uniformed and civilian personnel reporting to the base every day.