New commander at Yokota Air Base pledges to make people his top priority
By Jennifer H. Svan, Tokyo
bureau chief
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Col. Mark Zamzow stepped aside to a
standing ovation to make way for Yokota’s new 374th Airlift Wing commander during a
change-of-command ceremony here last week.
Incoming commander, Col. Mark Stearns, vowed that the people of
Yokota would be his first priority.
“I firmly believe that our ability to perform our mission is
directly related to how well we take care of our people and families,” he said.
Hundreds of uniformed servicemembers attended the ceremony in a
sunlit hangar, as did a handful of local Japanese mayors and other guests.
In his first address to the Yokota community, Stearns stressed the
importance of staying true to the wing’s mission in this time of war. “We, as an
organization, must adapt to the requirements and find the right procedures that allow us
to accomplish our mission,” he said.
“However, we must simultaneously find ways to get our lives back
to normal under the current posture… To me, mission comes first. That is why
we’re here, that’s our task, that’s our responsibility and duty.”
Stearns comes to Yokota from Scott Air Force Base, Ill., where he was
operations deputy director, U.S. Transportation Command. He entered the Air Force in 1979
after graduating from the Air Force Academy.
He assumes leadership of four groups, 18 squadrons, 30 tenant units,
more than 6,300 personnel, and a base population of 11,000.
Lt. Gen. Paul Hester, commander U.S. Forces, Japan, and 5th Air
Force, at Yokota, welcomed Stearns and his wife. “They bring an enormous amount of
... experience,” he said.
Hester, commander, U.S. Forces Japan, and 5th Air Force, at Yokota
wished Zamzow and family well as they move to Altus Air Force Base, Okla. Zamzow will
command the wing at Altus, an assignment Hester called “a much larger
responsibility.”
As a rookie wing commander at Yokota, Zamzow said he learned the
value of empowerment.
“Let folks take it and run with it. They will surprise you, they
will surprise themselves, and they will make things happen.”
Zamzow marveled at the “magnificent facilities that our great
partners in the Japanese government have given us. … The quality of life just zooms
up.”
His closing words of advice were: “Make your mission
capabilities even more viable, fix those problems that you and I both know are out there,
lead by example, motivate others, on and off duty. …”
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