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17th AF commander: Lack of planes is not a problem

The Air Force stood up its part of U.S. Africa Command — the 17th Air Force — on Sept. 18 with zero planes under its command, but 12 days ahead of the joint activation of the U.S. military’s newest major command.

Despite criticism aimed at Africa Command leaders for not finding an African nation to host it and not manning the command with enough interagency personnel — AfriCom is here.

The head of AfriCom, Gen. William Ward, declared in June that he wanted more planes after he emphasized how important air power will be in the command.

Maj. Gen. Ronald R. Ladnier, 17th Air Force commander, agreed during a phone interview Sept. 24, but he said he’s not worried about the lack of airplanes under his command.

“On the surface it might scare the hell out of someone, but look at Central Command,” he said. Ladnier then explained how most aircraft that fly missions over Iraq and Afghanistan come from different commands across the globe.

“We’ll just do the same,” he said.

But, African missions won’t receive the same priority as those in Central Command, putting the onus on AfriCom and 17th Air Force’s leadership to lobby for the necessary aircraft.

“When you think about the millions of people who die every year in Africa and how something so small on our part can make a difference, I think in many cases that will be persuasive,” Ladnier said.

The 17th Air Force held its activation ceremony in Hangar 5 at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, where its headquarters will be.

Ladnier defined the mission of the 17th as providing “air safety and security” in Africa. Its airmen will take part in logistics, humanitarian and special operations missions across the continent.

Originally, the unit was scheduled to be based at the Sembach Annex of Ramstein — 19 miles east of the main base — but it will stay on Ramstein to save money, Ladnier said.

The 17th Air Force has 120 airmen, but the commander said he hopes that number will grow to 290 by Oct. 1, 2009, when his unit is scheduled to be fully operational.

Until then, the 17th will lean on the 3rd Air Force — also at Ramstein — for support. The 3rd is tasked to plan combat and humanitarian missions in Europe and Africa.

While Africa Command works through its initial standup, Ladnier said he doesn’t understand the negative attention the command has received.

“I think it’s natural for African countries if they don’t know what we’re about to wonder out loud …. but I will tell you the countries we’ve been to have been excited about our arrival,” he said.

“It’s not that we suddenly have gotten interested in Africa. … It’s that we are synchronizing all the efforts of the various portions of the U.S. government” to be focused on Africa.