![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Air-C-5-Galaxy_AMC.jpg.jpg\")
\u201cWe knew early that this was not going to be a short-term thing,\u201d he said. \u201cWe instantly started saying, \u2018OK, if this becomes the new normal, how do we keep everything going?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the airmen and their planes were tired. The Air Force last year ramped up C-5 Galaxy operations and called on more civilian and commercial flights so its C-17 Globemaster III crews and airframes could recharge after leaving Kabul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe want to make sure we tidy up the airplanes and get them the service that they need and get the crews the rest and recovery and, frankly, the additional training on other missions that they weren\u2019t focused on,\u201d Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, then the AMC commander, said in September 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Minihan indicated that a year of unrelenting operations has continued to take its toll on the fleets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Airmen have resorted to \u201caggressive maintenance actions\u201d to keep up the fast pace of mobility operations, as airlifters and tankers face the \u201cnormal ebb and flow of issues\u201d of going hard for months, Minihan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen it comes to the gray tails, we are always looking to [optimize] the distribution to ensure that we\u2019re not running the energy and the life out of a platform inappropriately,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen it comes to our [Civil Reserve Air Fleet] and our civilians, [integration] is needed now more than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Civil Reserve Air Fleet, a group of commercial airlines that supplement military airlift in times of crisis, can take some pressure off the planes that would normally handle those missions. For example, AMC as early as January began delivering explosives to Ukraine on commercial jets via Air Force bases in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leaning on the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard has also helped delegate some missions for the swamped active duty units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDid I have concerns about people\u2019s ability to get after the Ukraine portion or any other portion after the evac? The answer is no,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, Minihan knows what his airmen do is hard. In lieu of being able to take a break from world events, he has encouraged troops to periodically decompress through therapy or sports and other hobbies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGlobal ops never stops,\u201d Minihan said. \u201cThe shock absorbers for that are \u2026 the humans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Jan. 28, Minihan posted to social media a screenshot of a calendar entry for an upcoming appointment at a mental health clinic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWarrior heart. No stigma,\u201d he tweeted, earning praise for setting a positive example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A month later, Russia began its military campaign to topple the Ukrainian government and claim territory from the former Soviet satellite nation. Air Mobility Command\u2019s units braced for the long haul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Operation Allies Refuge gave mobility airmen a crash course in the value of having several locations that can support aircraft and their cargo in a crisis, from maintenance facilities to communications hubs that connect each so-called \u201clily pad.\u201d That paid off when planning operations in support of the NATO alliance and Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs we went into the possibilities for Ukraine, we really tried to pay attention in advance to the enablers ahead of the task that needed to be in place,\u201d Minihan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First came the task of moving the 82nd Airborne Division and others from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to Europe. Then came several billion dollars\u2019 worth of munitions, surveillance drones, long-range precision rocket systems and other materiel that Air Mobility Command have helped ship from the U.S. to Ukrainian troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The U.S. Air Force first posted pictures of airmen loading Lockheed Martin-made shoulder-fired Javelin anti-tank missiles, launchers and other supplies onto commercial jets Jan. 21-22. Those units, the 60th Aerial Port Squadron and the 436th Aerial Port Squadron, are respectively based at California\u2019s Travis Air Force Base in California and Delaware\u2019s Dover Air Force Base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AMC is also responsible for the aerial refueling planes that are in high demand as the U.S. and NATO add more and more fighters to police the skies over Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The war has offered a chance to continue proving out the new KC-46 Pegasus tankers while the troubled planes await crucial fixes to their refueling system, expanding its peacetime use to INDOPACOM and possibly U.S. Central Command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Design problems may keep the Boeing\u2019s new tanker out of combat operations for the next few years, but aircrews are making sure it can perform multiple kinds of missions and helping NATO in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s got much more capacity than just passing the needed fuel off of it. It has a connectivity link that has been very successful,\u201d Minihan said. \u201cIt did [transatlantic aeromedical evacuation] missions. \u2026 It showed us that our integration among partners and allies could be done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n AMC is also exploring whether a single pilot and a refueling boom operator could handle missions on their own in an emergency, instead of flying with a copilot as usual. That way, another pilot-and-boom operator pair could sleep in the back and be ready to switch out to continue the mission, rather than land to change crews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Six months into the war in Ukraine and one year after U.S. troops withdrew from Afghanistan, Minihan wants to sustain the current pace of operations in Europe for as long as needed, while figuring out how to work smarter in the Indo-Pacific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen you go into these high op tempo portions of your life, you always have to have a team focused on what\u2019s next,\u201d he said. \u201cHow do we sustain this operation? When is this squadron done with this surge? Who\u2019s the next squadron coming in? How am I keeping my eye on what\u2019s happening in six months, 12 months, 18 months?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Add in airlift and tanker missions to support a presidential trip to the Indo-Pacific in May, plus growing tensions between China and Taiwan, and there\u2019s plenty of challenges for air mobility planners to navigate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For his airmen who carry the responsibility of those missions, Minihan said he\u2019s invested in creating predictable work schedules and removing barriers to good work, like red tape and IT woes. He also knows soaring housing costs and understaffed childcare centers hurt the force at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have to really take a hard look at everything,\u201d Minihan said, pointing to how often families are asked to move. \u201cDo we truly mean it when we say that \u2026 you can stay an extra year to get a kid through school, [and] that your spouse\u2019s employment is important?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aerial port squadrons, the units responsible for the movement of military cargo around the world, have experienced the most stress this past year, the general said. He general estimates that mobility airmen are working on 50% more missions than is typical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019re not winded, but you\u2019re certainly not rested for the majority of the time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How long can Air Mobility Command keep up that pace?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m meeting all my readiness models,\u201d Minihan said. \u201cI can sustain it, at this point, indefinitely.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “If this becomes the new normal, how do we keep everything going?” Air Mobility Command boss Gen. Mike Minihan said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":71507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":7,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[75,7,160,29,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3484],"class_list":["post-32145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air-force-association","category-air","category-daily-news-roundup","category-digital-show-dailies","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"SBG65KCYFRFLDGHJZEJLHNXVSY","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-air-force\/2022\/09\/20\/from-kabul-to-kyiv-air-mobility-boss-reflects-on-a-year-unlike-most\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Air_paratroopers.jpg.jpg\")
Spinning up for Ukraine<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/KC-135-Poland.jfif_.jpg\")
\u2018Until we win\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n