JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas – The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center welcomed its new Air Force Security Forces Center commander Aug. 2, while saying farewell to outgoing commander Col. Phillip Born.
AFIMSC Commander Maj. Gen. John Allen presided over the change of command ceremony in the Pfingston Reception Center on JBSA-Lackland as Col. Jason Harris took the reins of the unit tasked with organizing, training and equipping more than 38,000 security forces Airmen in the active and air reserve component.
The general began his remarks by outlining what he called two installation and mission support truths: that installations in the Department of the Air Force are power projection platforms where we build our readiness, deploy our resources around the globe where it is necessary and employ our readiness. Installations are nothing more than natural and built infrastructure without well-organized, trained and equipped combat support and service support units that make them power projection platforms, he said.
As one of AFIMSC four primary subordinate units, the AFSFC supports that effort by “getting to yes for Air Force missions, making sure that Defenders in the field have the equipment they need to be mission capable and mission successful, and telling the Air Force Defender story in the context of big Air Force and combat support,” Allen said. “That last one is very important as we help the Air Force reoptimize for the nation’s Great Power Competition.”
As a cross-functional organization, the security forces center is manned by security forces, intelligence, office of special investigations, explosive ordnance disposal, medical, scientific, communications, engineering, logistics and acquisition program management personnel.
Utilizing that expertise, AFSFC trains, equips and manages program execution for the Air Force security forces enterprise across the globe; driving integration, innovation and advancements for integrated defense, law and order operations, nuclear and non-nuclear asset protection, corrections management, and training to include small arms and military working dog support.
“Over the last few years, the center has been well-led in those missions by Colonel Born,” the general said, “and there is no doubt Colonel Harris, as the incoming commander, is the right leader in the right place at the right time to lead AFSFC into the future.”
Harris, who received his commission from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, comes to AFIMSC from Headquarters U.S. European Command, in Stuttgart, Germany, where he was the chief of the Joint Protection Division. He is a career security forces officer and three-time squadron commander, including two security forces units and a training unit. He also served a tour in Washington D.C. as commander of the Air Force Honor Guard.
“To General Allen, I understand what a rare opportunity it is to get to command at the wing-level and I promise not to let you down,” Harris said during his remarks, “and to the men and women of the Air Force Security Forces Center, I am excited and truly honored to work with you and for you. We’re going to have a lot of challenges ahead for Defender Nation as we embrace the Great Power Competition, but I look forward to doing it with you because I know we have a strong team.”
After a 27-year Air Force career, Born retires from active-duty service Aug. 23 with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2025.