Scott Air Force Base, Ill. -- Air Force Gen. William M. Fraser III took command of the U.S. Transportation Command during a ceremony Friday at Scott Air Force Base.
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta presided over the ceremony during which Fraser became the 10th USTRANSCOM commander.
Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was the first to speak at the ceremony and lauded the efforts of the command.
"I can't imagine what we did to integrate our transportation activities before there was a TRANSCOM," said Dempsey. "I want to congratulate those former commanders ... and thank the young men and women who have served and are serving in TRANSCOM, because we couldn't be the armed forces we are without you.
"The foundation of our profession is trust," added Dempsey. "What you do for our armed forces enables that trust to occur ... we are the only military in the world that if we call for something ... if we need something on the battlefield, we're going to get it. And nine times out of 10, it will get there because of TRANSCOM."
Panetta took the podium and acknowledged USTRANSCOM's accomplishments under Gen. Duncan J. McNabb's command.
"We take time today to honor the quiet service and immense contribution of all of the men and women of this command ... USTRANSCOM directs a truly extraordinary and unceasing effort to sustain our operations around the globe. (It's) a logistics enterprise that I believe is unmatched in scale and unequal in effectiveness." Panetta said. "Together with your components, you are the backbone of our military, the support structure upon which everything else hinges.
"Under General McNabb, this command has faced one of the most demanding periods in history," Panetta added, "and it has excelled."
McNabb thanked those who served under his command.
"You are indeed the lifeline of the force ... sustaining our warfighters with the care and zeal only you can provide." McNabb said. "We've rewritten strategic transportation history."
Fraser entered the Air Force in 1974 as a distinguished graduate of the Texas A&M University ROTC program. His operational assignments include duty as a T-37, B-52, B-1, and B-2 instructor pilot and evaluator. Fraser has commanded an operations group and two bomb wings.
His staff duties include tours on the Air Staff, Joint Staff, and Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. He has also served as chief of the Nuclear Requirements Cell at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, chief of staff for U.S. Strategic Command, Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the 34th Vice Chief of Staff, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.
Fraser has extensive wartime, contingency and humanitarian relief operational experience. During Operation Enduring Freedom he led an intelligence fusion organization that provided direct support to the warfighter.
In assuming his new command, he said, "TRANSCOM has earned a tremendous reputation of getting the job done, and I expect nothing short of your continued excellence...I count myself among the very fortunate to serve with you.
"These are challenging times, but this is also an amazing time to be a part of TRANSCOM because with challenges come opportunity," he continued, "and every individual in this command ... has the opportunity to make a real difference. It's not the planes, it's not the trains, the ships or the trucks that make things happen ... it is the people."
USTRANSCOM, one of nine combatant commands, provides air, land and sea transportation, terminal management and aerial refueling to support the global deployment, employment, sustainment and redeployment of U.S. forces. Its components include the Army's Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command and Air Force's Air Mobility Command, Navy's Military Sealift Command in Washington, D.C., and the Joint Enabling Capabilities Command, Norfolk, Va.