Bunch tours Tinker

  • Published
  • By Megan Prather

Air Force Materiel Command Commander, Gen. Arnold W. Bunch Jr., visited Tinker last week, making it his first visit to a main logistics center location since taking command in May.

“I am thrilled to get the opportunity to be the commander of AFMC, and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to work with outstanding people like Gen. Kirkland, Col. Filcek, Gen. Hill and all the men and women of the AFSC and Team Tinker,” Bunch said. “They’re very passionate about what they do, they’re committed to what they do, and it’s critical.”

Throughout his visit to Tinker, Bunch had the opportunity to view facilities and speak with the men and women that make up the Air Force Sustainment Center, the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex and the 72nd Air Base Wing about their contribution to the overall Air Force mission.

 “I came here willing to listen. I work for the 80,000 men and women of AFMC and they’re the ones doing the hard work. I need to understand what’s impacting their ability to get the mission done, and I need to understand what it is that’s limiting their productivity so that I can address that in my role as a commander,” Bunch said.

Bunch stressed that the mission at Tinker is continuing to grow with the upcoming KC-46 depot activation, the preparation for B-21 depot maintenance and the work in additive manufacturing in order to grow and be innovative for the future.

“The mission’s not slowing down in any way, shape or form. What we do at AFMC is critical. It’s critical to what we’re going to be able to do for the Air Force to keep our readiness up and to be able to address what we need to do for the future,” Bunch said. “One of the key tenants in that is being able to achieve what we need out of AFMC is the AFSC. The AFSC keeps our legacy fleet going only because of the great work and the herculean efforts and, quite frankly, the magic of the men and women who work in this organization.”

He also had the opportunity to tour base housing to get a better understanding of the housing issues.

“Our Airmen and their families are our most important and most valuable resources, and we need to be responsible for them. We need to make sure they live in safe conditions, and we’re attacking that,” he said. 

Overall, he said the immersion during his visit with Team Tinker was refreshing and energizing.

“It’s always great to come in and hear the passion people have for their jobs. In AFMC we do our wartime mission each and every day,” he said. “It was easy to see in dialogue with the men and women here that they truly take that to heart. They know that they’re doing the wartime mission each and every day and they understand how critical what they’re doing is to our ability to project power and to execute what the nation needs us to do as an Air Force,” Bunch said.

Bunch tours Tinker

  • Published
  • By Megan Prather

Air Force Materiel Command Commander, Gen. Arnold W. Bunch Jr., visited Tinker last week, making it his first visit to a main logistics center location since taking command in May.

“I am thrilled to get the opportunity to be the commander of AFMC, and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to work with outstanding people like Gen. Kirkland, Col. Filcek, Gen. Hill and all the men and women of the AFSC and Team Tinker,” Bunch said. “They’re very passionate about what they do, they’re committed to what they do, and it’s critical.”

Throughout his visit to Tinker, Bunch had the opportunity to view facilities and speak with the men and women that make up the Air Force Sustainment Center, the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex and the 72nd Air Base Wing about their contribution to the overall Air Force mission.

 “I came here willing to listen. I work for the 80,000 men and women of AFMC and they’re the ones doing the hard work. I need to understand what’s impacting their ability to get the mission done, and I need to understand what it is that’s limiting their productivity so that I can address that in my role as a commander,” Bunch said.

Bunch stressed that the mission at Tinker is continuing to grow with the upcoming KC-46 depot activation, the preparation for B-21 depot maintenance and the work in additive manufacturing in order to grow and be innovative for the future.

“The mission’s not slowing down in any way, shape or form. What we do at AFMC is critical. It’s critical to what we’re going to be able to do for the Air Force to keep our readiness up and to be able to address what we need to do for the future,” Bunch said. “One of the key tenants in that is being able to achieve what we need out of AFMC is the AFSC. The AFSC keeps our legacy fleet going only because of the great work and the herculean efforts and, quite frankly, the magic of the men and women who work in this organization.”

He also had the opportunity to tour base housing to get a better understanding of the housing issues.

“Our Airmen and their families are our most important and most valuable resources, and we need to be responsible for them. We need to make sure they live in safe conditions, and we’re attacking that,” he said. 

Overall, he said the immersion during his visit with Team Tinker was refreshing and energizing.

“It’s always great to come in and hear the passion people have for their jobs. In AFMC we do our wartime mission each and every day,” he said. “It was easy to see in dialogue with the men and women here that they truly take that to heart. They know that they’re doing the wartime mission each and every day and they understand how critical what they’re doing is to our ability to project power and to execute what the nation needs us to do as an Air Force,” Bunch said.