The U.S. Air Force elevated Air Force Southern (AFSOUTH) to a Service Component Command during a change of command ceremony at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Sept. 11.
As a Service Component Command, AFSOUTH will report directly to the Secretary of the Air Force through the Air Force Chief of Staff so it can prepare, present, and generate airpower effects in support of U.S. Southern Command requirements.
"In an era of Great Power Competition, our Air Force is facing global challenges," Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said. "They don't adhere to specific regions and make no mistake: they are competing in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility."
AFSOUTH will continue its mission to deter aggression, defeat threats, rapidly respond to crises and work with our allies and partner nations to build regional capacity to ensure a secure, free and prosperous Western Hemisphere.
"The mission we do here is not talked about a lot, it's not in the news a lot but it is so critically important to our nation, to our hemisphere," said Maj. Gen. David Mineau, the incoming commander of AFSOUTH. "The expertise you all have not just in the application of airpower and cyber, but your knowledge in Latin America and the Caribbean is world-class."
AFSOUTH will realign as a Service Component Command after the Air Force announced it would be organizing its commands into two categories: Institutional Commands responsible for organizing, training, and equipping Airmen, and Service Component Commands responsible for preparing Airmen for warfighting in a combatant command's area of responsibility.
"The competition is real, and if we fail here in U.S. Southern Command, we fail across the board," Allvin said. "That's why it's so important we have the right people in our Air Force at this combatant command, and it's one of the reasons we made the decision to elevate Air Forces Southern into a Service Component Command - at the same level, with the same access, and the same decision-making processes as our other service components."
Aligning Air Force organizations into either Institutional Commands or Service Component Commands ensures the Air Force can better prepare, present, and generate airpower effects for the Joint Force and enables service component commands to focus on preparation and presentation for their combat missions.
Future Service Component Commands will include:
- Air Forces Central (AFCENT)
- Air Forces Northern (AFNORTH)/Air Forces Space (AFSPACE)
- Air Forces Cyber (AFCYBER)
Pacific Air Forces; U.S. Air Forces in Europe - U.S. Air Forces Africa; Air Force Special Operations Command; Air Mobility Command; and Air Force Global Strike Command will be considered SCCs and will retain their current Combatant Command force alignment and readiness-related roles, responsibilities, and authorities.
