ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. (AP) -- A commander says Arnold Air Force Base in Tennessee is vital to the overall Air Force mission.

Gen. Janet Wolfenbarger of the Air Force Materiel Command praised the work done at the Middle Tennessee base and its Arnold Engineering and Development Center. The center has recently been redesignated as a complex as part of an AFMC construct that consolidates the command's centers from 12 to five.

Wolfenbarger said Arnold will continue to be critical to the command's mission of providing warfighter support.

The newly designated complex is the country's largest complex of flight simulation test facilities. The complex has 30 active test cells at the base.