The commander of Air Mobility Command briefed attendees from across the globe Sept. 26 on the command’s past, present and future contributions to the nation’s defense during the Air Force Association’s Air & Space Conference and Technology Exposition here.

“It takes bravery and courage to do our mission today,” Gen. Arthur Lichte said. “We put tankers over hostile territory. We go in and save people’s lives with aeromedical evacuation. We deliver cargo. We do air drop, and we’re always in harm’s way… and we’re doing it around the clock.”

Since the Sept. 11 attacks, he said, AMC has transfered 1.1 billion gallons of fuel during air refueling operations. To get an idea of how much this is, imagine watching Niagra Falls, in the summertime, for 25 minutes, he said.

“AMC delivers troops to the fight and keeps convoys off the ground,” General Lichte said, and since operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, the survival rate of injured troops has improved from 10 days to three, from theater to home.

“We do this (mission) as a total force,” he said. To explain the total force attributes of AMC, General Lichte told a story about Sgt. Dan Powers that happened this year.

In the early morning hours of July 3, Sergeant Powers became the victim of an enemy attack in Iraq, having a knife lodged in his brain.

As a C-17 Globemaster III Expeditionary Airlift Squadron and a critical care unit prepared to take the sergeant to Andrews Air Force Base, Md., another call came in to provide transport for a second patient, an Army specialist with a gunshot wound to the neck, the general explained.

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