618th TACC commander discusses MacDill’s “One Team, No Seam”

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Tania Reid
  • 6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
MacDill AFB, Fla --  The 618th Tanker Air Control Center commander from Scotts AFB, Ill. met with Airmen at MacDill AFB and discussed the future of the Total Force Integration here during his visit Oct. 5 to 6. 

Maj. Gen. Mark Solo talked about the benefits of active duty and reserve servicemembers working together with Airmen from the 6th Air Mobility and 927th Air Refueling Wings and the plans for this association during his two day visit. 

"I've made visits to almost all the Air Mobility Command bases," said General Solo. "And what I stress to the leadership of TACC is to go out and speak with the Airmen, the crews, the maintainers and the support members." 

He said he considers them the pointed end of the spear as they are the ones that are going out and getting the mission done. 

"The TACC are mainly located in a brick building at Scott Air Force Base so it's easy to get tunnel vision about what's going on out in the world," General Solo said. "So it's important for us to get out and meet with the folks who are actually deploying and executing the missions to get their feedback about how things are going." 

He also mentioned the MacDill Total Force Integration between the 6th Air Mobility and 927th Air Refueling Wings. 

"I'm also excited about the Total Force Integration here at MacDill," said General Solo. "That concept has been here since 2008 when the reserve wing moved here and it's good to see how both wings have come together as a team. I really like the slogan, 'One Team, No Seam' and wish them all the best with this association." 

He said the fact that both the active and reserve members are able to share the aircraft, share the resources and share the members here helps to make the mission tasked by the TACC seamless. 

The association helps create unanimity with tasking. 

"We at the TACC don't task the 6th Air Mobility Wing, we task MacDill," said General Solo about the active and reserve integration. "It's regardless of the patch they are wearing, they take the various missions that we at the TACC task and perform them seamlessly." 

He added that with other bases on the same path he hopes MacDill will share some of the secrets to their successes. 

"We will continue to see these associations continue to grow throughout our Air Force and AMC. Some have started," said General Solo. "With MacDill's successes in the Total Force Integration it can serve as a benchmark to other bases about how to undergo the active and reserve association process."