Mountain Home AFB commander briefs Idaho committee on readiness, airspace and local projects

Colonel Mike Alfaro, wing commander at Mountain Home Air Force Base, briefed the Idaho House Transportation and Defense Committee on the base’s mission priorities, training exercises, infrastructure projects and quality-of-life initiatives, and answered lawmakers’ questions about runway and airspace changes, aircraft modernization and local construction projects.

The base leader told the committee Mountain Home’s priorities are “people, preparedness, and professionalism,” and said the wing’s operational focus is aligned with national guidance that identifies China as the pacing threat. “The Air Force in Mount Home is laser focused on China, as our pacing threat,” Alfaro said, adding that training and force design must account for greater attrition and threats to the homeland.

Alfaro outlined major activities and projects. He said Mountain Home won the Commander in Chief Installation Excellence Award for 2024 and that the award included “over $1,000,000” the base used largely to upgrade dormitories and shared spaces. He highlighted recent experiments in force posture and training: a Deployable Combat…