Senior US Air Force officials visit Fort Smith

Top U.S. Air Force (USAF) leaders were at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith on Sunday and Monday (March 8-9) to receive briefings on foreign military pilot training center operations and the 188th Wing. The leaders also met with community officials.

USAF officials would not provide meeting details, other than to say it was related to the mission at Ebbing. The USAF also would not comment when asked if senior foreign military officials were part of the delegation. A social media post by the Fort Smith Public School District showed members of the Polish Air Force with the delegation.

“Air Force Chief of Staff General Ken Wilsbach and Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force David Wolfe visited Ebbing Air National Guard base to visit with Airmen and see the installation’s mission firsthand,” noted a USAF statement. “Air Force senior leaders regularly visit personnel and units across the service, and these trips are not tied to any specific operation.”

Ebbing was selected in March 2023 by the U.S. Air Force to be the long-term FMS pilot training center supporting F-35 fighter planes purchased by Singapore, Switzerland, Poland, Germany, Finland, and other countries participating in the program. The base also will house and provide training support for Republic of Singapore F-16s. The first of eight Finnish F-35A jets landed at Ebbing in January. Polish F-35A “Husarz” jets are also at Ebbing.

The 85th Fighter Group and the 57th Fighter Squadron, both under the Eglin, Fla.-based 33rd Fighter Wing, are based at Ebbing and are responsible for training F-35 pilots. Ebbing is co-located with the Fort Smith Regional Airport. The estimated total cost to complete the training center ranges between $850 million and more than $1.2 billion.

Gen. Wilsbach is the senior uniformed Air Force officer responsible for organizing, training and equipping approximately 665,000 active-duty, Guard, Reserve and civilian forces in the United States and overseas, according to the USAF. He serves as a military advisor to the Secretary of Defense, National Security Council and the President.

Wilsbach is a command pilot with more than 6,200 hours in multiple aircraft, including the F-15C, F-16C, MC-12 and F-22A. He has flown 71 combat missions in operations Northern Watch, Southern Watch and Enduring Freedom.

Chief Master Sergeant Wolfe is the 21st Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force and is the highest enlisted USAF member. He is the senior enlisted leader and primary adviser to the chief of staff and Secretary of the Air Force Dr. Troy Meink on standards, readiness, training, professional development, and effective utilization of personnel. He joined the USAF in February 1992 as a security forces airman.

According to the 188th, the visit by Wilsbach and Wolfe is one of just a few high level visits in recent years. Gen. Mark Welsh III visited in 2013 when he was the USAF chief of staff, and Secretary of the Air Force Deborah James visited Ebbing in 2015 and Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson visited the base in 2018.

Fort Smith Mayor George McGill said he was part of a Sunday night dinner and Monday morning briefing about the community’s involvement with Ebbing.

“They’ve heard so much about Ebbing, the base, and the community and what all is going on here and everything we’re doing to welcome them here,” McGill said. “So they wanted to come here and see it for themselves, and meet the key people, some of the key people who helped get the mission here.

“I was in the briefing where we talked about the role of the community … the things we are doing for the families, the things that we are doing to get them acclimated.”

Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tim Allen said it is important that with such visits “we show how we continue to work with the city (Fort Smith) and other great partners in the area” to welcome U.S. and foreign military leaders and members.

The USAF delegation traveled to Fort Smith in a C-40, the military variant of a Boeing 737. There are only 11 in service with the U.S. Air Force as of April 2025, according to the branch’s Air Mobility Command.

“The C-40B/C provides safe, comfortable and reliable transportation and communications for the president, vice president, cabinet members, combatant commanders and other senior military and elected leaders as tasked by the White House, Air Force chief of staff and Air Mobility Command,” noted the Air Mobility Command.