JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO, Texas –
For the people of the 502nd Air Base Wing, providing installation support services everyday across the Joint Base San Antonio enterprise, is just the job.
What most people may not know is the scope of that job, with the wing supporting 266 mission partners at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, JBSA-Lackland, JBSA-Randolph, JBSA-Camp Bullis and seven other operating locations throughout the greater San Antonio area.
From comptroller support to civil engineering, legal, logistics readiness, public affairs, safety, security and almost everything in between, the 502nd ABW is helping sustain the readiness of JBSA mission partners to accomplish their missions.
For sheer size, scope and geographical dispersion, JBSA is the largest of any joint base in the entire Department of Defense, with almost 80,000 assigned personnel. In comparison, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, located in Tacoma, Wash., has approximately 50,000 assigned personnel and is the next closest in size to JBSA.
An economic juggernaut, JBSA has a direct impact of $15.5 billion on San Antonio and an impact of $87.9 billion on the overall economy of Texas. JBSA accounts for 36 percent of the overall military economic impact on the state as of fiscal year 2015.
In all, the equivalent of 20 U.S. Air Force wings and U.S. Army brigades are supported by the 502nd ABW. The following are some of the JBSA larger mission partners.
JBSA-FORT SAM HOUSTON
Historic Fort Sam Houston is home to the 502nd ABW headquarters, commanded by Brig. Gen. Heather Pringle, who also serves as the JBSA commander. In existence since 2010, the wing’s mission is to provide unrivaled installation support and service to enable mission partner success.
U.S. Army North is headquartered at the historic Quadrangle and is led by Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, who is also the senior Army commander. ARNORTH, together with its partners, prepares for unified land operations, conducts security cooperation activities, and protects the force within the U.S. Northern Command area of responsibility to contribute to the defense and security of the United States and its interests.
The U.S. Army Installation Management Command also calls JBSA-Fort Sam Houston home and is led by Lt. Gen. Kenneth Dahl. IMCOM’s mission is to provide the Army with the installation capabilities and services to support expeditionary operations in a time of persistent conflict, and to provide a quality of life for Soldiers & Families commensurate with their service.
The U.S. Army Medical Command, led by Lt. Gen. Nadja West, is responsible for U.S. Army medical facilities and personnel around the world. Responsibility is spread across the Army Medical Department Center & School, also at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, as well as four regional health commands and the Army Medical Research and Materiel Command.
The U.S. Navy Medicine Education, Training and Logistics Command’s mission is to deliver professional, occupational and operational education, training and logistics solutions to support the Navy Medicine mission. Rear Adm. (upper half) Rebecca McCormick-Boyle leads the NMETLC and is JBSA’s senior Navy commander.
U.S. Army South is led by Maj. Gen. K.K. Chinn and has a mission of conducting security cooperation and responds to contingencies as part of a whole-of-government approach in conjunction with partner nation armies in the U.S. Southern Command Area of responsibility as the theater army in order to strengthen regional security and counter transnational threats in defense of the homeland.
The Army Medical Department Center & School, U.S. Army Health Readiness Center of Excellence is led by Maj. Gen. Brian Lein, who commands the Army’s largest civilian-accredited service school. It is also the Army`s center for developing and improving battlefield medical doctrine and organizations. The Academy of Health Sciences conducts more than 315 courses from one-week functional courses to multi-year master’s and doctoral programs.
The Army’s Regional Health-Command-Central falls under MEDCOM and is led by Maj. Gen. Thomas Tempel Jr. The command’s mission is to provide safe, high-quality, accessible, patient-centered healthcare and services to improve readiness, promote resiliency, and advance wellness with those entrusted to their care.
The U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command provides Army commands, installations and activities with disciplined and responsive contracting solutions and oversight. On order, aligns and provides contracting forces in order to enable Army Unified Land Operations. The MICC is commanded by Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Gabbert.
Brooke Army Medical Center is the sole verified Level I Trauma Center within the Department of Defense and has a mission of promoting health and providing safe, quality, timely, compassionate, patient-centered care while developing healthcare professionals and optimizing readiness. BAMC is led by Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Johnson.
The Medical Education and Training Campus is a state-of-the-art tri-service (Army, Air Force and Navy) healthcare education campus that trains enlisted medical personnel. It has 48 medical programs and 18,000 graduates a year. METC is led by Army Col. Jack Davis, who acts as commandant.
JBSA-LACKLAND
The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center is led by Maj. Gen. Bradley Spacy. Centralized management of installation and mission support capabilities at AFIMSC allows the Air Force to resource and sustain a standard of level of support based on Air Force priorities. The center provides program management, resourcing and support activities in key areas previously provided by 10 major commands, two direct reporting units and multiple field operating agencies. AFIMSC’s capabilities include security forces, civil engineering, base communications, logistics readiness, ministry programs, services, operational acquisition and financial management.
The 19th Air Force is responsible for the training of more than 30,000 U.S. and allied students annually in numerous specialties ranging from aircrews, remotely piloted aircraft crews, air battle managers, weapons directors, Air Force Academy Airmanship programs, and survival, escape, resistance and evasion specialists. Maj. Gen. James Hecker is the commander.
Maj. Gen. Christopher Weggeman is the commander if 24th Air Force, as well as commander of Air Forces Cyber, with the responsibility of providing Air Force component and combatant commanders with trained and ready cyber forces which plan, direct and execute global cyberspace operations.
The 25th Air Force provides full-spectrum decision advantage to warfighters and national leaders through globally integrated intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, electronic warfare, information operations and strategic command and control and is commanded by Maj. Gen. Bradford Shwedo.
The 59th Medical Wing, led by Maj. Gen. (Dr.) Bart Iddins, is the Air Force's premier healthcare, medical education and research and readiness wing, with a mission of “Developing Warrior Medics Through Patient-Centered Care.”
The 37th Training Wing, led by Col. Roy Collins, has a mission to train Airmen in the fundamentals of airmanship, instruction and leadership during Basic Military Training and also trains Airmen, other military services, government agencies, coalition partners from more than 100 countries and the military working dog program.
The Air National Guard’s 149th Fighter Wing is led by Col. Timothy J. Madden and is responsible for formulating, developing and coordinating all policies, plans and programs affecting more than 800 Air National Guard members at JBSA-Lackland and its geographically separated units throughout the state of Texas.
The 433rd Airlift Wing, an Air Force Reserve unit, is led by Col. Thomas Smith Jr., who directs the operations and activities of approximately 2,500 personnel assigned to the wing headquarters and 21 subordinate units. Also known as the “Alamo Wing,” it is the home of the formal training unit for all C-5M Super Galaxy aircrew training.
JBSA-RANDOLPH
Air Education and Training Command is led by Lt. Gen. Darryl Roberson, who is responsible for the recruiting, training and education of Air Force personnel. His command includes the Air Force Recruiting Service, two numbered air forces and Air University. The command operates nearly 1,370 trainer, fighter and mobility aircraft, 23 wings, 12 bases and five geographically separated groups. It trains more than 293,000 students per year with approximately 62,000 active-duty, Reserve, Guard, civilian and contractor personnel.
The 19th Air Force is responsible for the training of more than 30,000 U.S. and allied students annually in numerous specialties ranging from aircrews, remotely piloted aircraft crews, air battle managers, weapons directors, Air Force Academy Airmanship programs, and survival, escape, resistance and evasion specialists. Led by Maj. Gen. James Hecker, they execute operational-level command and control of all formal aircrew flying training missions within AETC.
Maj. Gen. Margaret Poore leads the Air Force Personnel Center, which ensures commanders around the world have the right number of skilled Air Force personnel to conduct the mission. The center executes programs covering the entire life cycle of military and civilian personnel for the Air Force, from accession through retirement, including readiness, growth, development and deployment.
The Air Force Recruiting Service comprises more than 2,470 Airmen and civilians in more than 1,100 recruiting offices across the United States and abroad. Maj. Gen. Garrett Harencak is responsible for all enlisted accessions and a variety of officer accession programs. AFRS also manages all strategic marketing for the U.S. Air Force.
Led by Col. Joel Carey, the 12th Flying Training Wing’s mission is to train Airmen in the fundamentals of airmanship, instruction and leadership. The wing consists of three flying groups, the 12th Operations Group at JBSA-Randolph; the 306th Flying Training Group at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo.; and the 479th Flying Training Group at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., as well as a maintenance directorate which operates at JBSA-Randolph and NAS Pensacola. Each year, the wing graduates more than 850 instructor pilots, 350 combat systems officers, 500 remotely piloted aircraft pilots and sensor operators, and trains more than 2,000 U.S. Air Force Academy cadets and 2,200 undergraduate flight training candidates.