Developing Warfighters: AMC senior leaders prioritize combat preparedness

Air Mobility Command:

"Throughout the 2026 Airlift/Tanker Association Symposium at Kissimmee, Florida, Nov. 5-7, Air Mobility Command senior leaders repeatedly emphasized that cultivating warfighting attributes in every Airman will be critically important for future mission success.

Lt. Gen. Dan Tulley, commander of AMC, outlined Warfighting as one of the command’s three priorities and has charged the command with the responsibility of developing mission-ready Airmen and organizations capable of prevailing in contested environments.

Tulley provided the following guidance. “For AMC’s warfighting Airmen, the first fundamental question of our strategy and the question we have to ask is, can we deliver, maneuver and sustain the Joint Force at a speed required under attack? The answer must be yes.”

As part of AMC’s Warfighting priority, Col. Frank Laras, U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Operations School commandant, addressed Total Force mobility Airmen on why the command needs to forge warfighters.

“Here’s the core reality: we don’t just support the fight, we use logistics, rapid global mobility and expeditionary operations to dictate the terms of that fight,” Laras said. “Gen. Tulley yesterday asked us, ‘Are we the AMC that our nation needs?’ I’m asking you, are you the warfighter you need to be?”

In answering this question, Laras looked to recent operations, where he saw the need to adapt training to an evolving battlefield with a greater demand for warfighting competencies and spirit.

“The fight has changed,” Laras said. “What we’re experiencing downrange, what our brothers and sisters in arms are going through, has made its way back to the classrooms, to the environments in which we train, in hope that we sweat harder at home, so we bleed less in combat.”

Laras described how the Expeditionary Operations School is increasing stress and pressure in partnership with other training organizations to build battlefield competencies, emphasize learning objectives and establish a warfighting resiliency that survives contact with any enemy.

“Every member should return to their family, and they’re able to do that if we get the training right,” Laras said. “So when you step out the door, there is no question in your mind that you’re ready to execute.”