USAF Expeditionary Center gets new mandate

FORT DIX, N.J., March 12 (UPI) -- After more than a year of development, the U.S. Air Force chief of staff has approved a new charter for the Air Force Expeditionary Center.

The charter, recently signed by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz officially authorizing the new operational mandate, sets in motion strategic objectives for the Expeditionary Center.

Under the new charter, the Expeditionary Center will be responsible for developing and overseeing pre-deployment and readiness training through advanced developmental, operational and tactical courses among other training objectives that support expeditionary combat operations.

"The Air Force Expeditionary Center will now assume a role in providing expeditionary combat support pre-deployment training that closely mirrors that of the air warfare center for the flying communities," Maj. Gen. Marke Gibson, the Pentagon's expeditionary skills senior review group chair, said in a statement.

"This document represents a ... critical step in our journey toward a vastly improved mechanism for meeting combatant commander training requirements."