SATAF gets total-force welcome

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Jason Schaap
  • 931st Air Refueling Group Public Affairs
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. --  A Site Activation Task Force arrived here today to help plan significant growth within the 931st Air Refueling Group.

More commonly known as a SATAF, the task force received a total-force welcome that included personal greetings from Col. Edsel A. "Archie" Frye Jr., 931st commander, and Col. James C. Vechery, commander of the 931st's host unit at McConnell AFB, the 22nd Air Refueling Wing.

The plan to soon grow the 931st by more than 400 aircraft maintenance personnel includes a large amount of increased support from the 22nd, Colonel Frye pointed out, and he thanked Colonel Vechery and the many other 22nd leaders also present at a SATAF in-brief this morning.

Lt. Col. Jeffrey Pickard, 931st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron commander, introduced the SATAF team to 931st and 22nd personnel ready to discuss historic changes for Team McConnell. Growth-related topics of concern, he said, included the need for more vehicles, security clearances, medical support and dining facility capabilities.
"As we stand here now," Colonel Pickard said to the task force, "we feel very strong about what we are doing."

The SATAF leader, Lt. Col. Simeon Highsmith, followed with an outline of his team's purpose. In general, the SATAF is here to address the costs and impact of growth, assess current projects involved and help "determine the way ahead." The team's primary objectives, he said, were to "evaluate facilities" and "streamline" hiring processes.

The "small" team Colonel Highsmith said he brought with him includes Airmen and civilians who specialize in addressing areas of concern like those mentioned by Colonel Pickard. After the in-brief, they paired up with 22nd and 931st personnel to form small working groups.

The groups were scheduled to confer for more than two days before a concluding outbrief Thursday afternoon. A completed SATAF report is expected two weeks following the visit.