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'The future of battle management:' US Air Force Secretary visits Robins

SecAF visited Robins AFB this week and thanked the community for its support of the base

WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — US Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson paid a visit to Robins AFB this week to see its various missions firsthand.

After touring the base, she fielded questions from reporters about her experience in Central Georgia and about the future of Robins.

Here are some of the questions and her answers:

Q: What was the biggest takeaway from your visit?

A: It’s very clear that the people of this community strongly support this Air Force base and as the secretary, I appreciate the support of the community.

Q: What does the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) mean for the Air Force as a whole?

A: Where we are going with Advanced Battle Management is to be able to connect more sensors from space, air, man on man, ground, surface of the sea, to be able to integrate a picture and can operate and provide information to the army even in contested air space.

RELATED: New Air Force battle management mission headed to Robins

Q: What specifically does ABMS mean for Robins AFB?

A: The Air Force has announced and I made the decision that the first fusion cell for ABMS will be right here at Warner Robins. JSTARS will continue to fly into the mid-2020s and then we will make the shift to ABM and build on the expertise that is here at Warner Robins to be the nexus of the future of battle management for the Air Force

RELATED: New Defense budget would bring high-tech mission to Robins, but begin JSTARS phaseout

Q: What is the Air Force doing after the 2017 military plane crash over Mississippi caused by faulty maintenance at Robins AFB?

A: That was a tragedy and I know a lot of people involved in that maintenance were just heartbroken by it. The AF directed an independent review of the process of re-having propellers and we must redesign that process and we are very close to re-certifying that process as a way in which we will review and service propellers going forward, which will continue to be located here at Robins.

We’re looking at corrosion as an issue in the service and the ways we can prevent corrosion or treat corrosion, including some advanced technologies, so it’s how do you detect that corrosion is taking place? We all are familiar with rust, but even to the point where you might not be able to see it and where there may be cracking in the material — how can you take rust or corrosion off a surface more easily or more thoroughly? And particularly here in Central Georgia they’re developing laser technology to be able to take rust off the surface of metal.

RELATED: 'It didn't have to happen:' Widow reacts to military report blaming Robins AFB for fatal crash

Reporter Chelsea Beimfohr will have more on Sec. Wilson’s visit on 13WMAZ News at 6.

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