Holloman AFB welcomes new 49th Wing commander
Command changes at Holloman Air Force Base, and other U.S. military installations around the world, happen every few years. Holloman Air Force Base held just such an event on June 17 welcoming Col. Justin B. Spears and bidding Col. Ryan Keeney farewell.
Spears' goals as 49th Wing commander include supporting the Airmen in the 49th Wing as well as their families.
"My job here is to lead and care for upwards of 5,000 Airmen that we have here at Holloman," Spears said. "It's important for me to remember that our Airmen are not just confined to the Wing and Base here, they are members of the local community... My No. 1 priority is caring for all them because they're the ones that get our mission done."
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Holloman Air Force Base's mission is to train F-16 Fighting Falcon pilots and MQ-9 Reaper pilots and sensor operators.
Spears most recently was 14th Operations Group commander at Columbus Air Force Base in Lowndes County, Mississippi where humidity makes summer weather warmer.
His family that came with him to Alamogordo include his wife and three out of four of his children.
"We absolutely love it here," Spears said. "My kids have commented more than once how much they love the mountains and the climate. They were sitting outside the other night, it was 98 degrees, and they were talking about how good it felt. Imagine that, 98 degrees and they thought it feels great."
Spears' eldest is in college and the three that came to Alamogordo with him are between the ages of 9 and 14.
The 14th Operations Group conducts pilot training and introduction to fighter fundamentals.
Spears was commissioned into the U.S. Air Force in 1998 following his graduation from the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado with a degree in English.
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Spears has accumulated more than 2,500 flight hours including more than 100 hours of combat flying time in Operations Southern Watch, Noble Eagle and Iraqi Freedom.
"My combat experience is about 20 years old now," Spears said. "My first fighter was the F-16, which we fly here, which I haven't flown in about 17 years. My combat time in the F-16 came from our opening combat operations in Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003."
Spears flew the opening weeks of Operation Iraqi Freedom, he said. He was stationed at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany at the time.
These combat flights took place three years after he completed training on the F-16, Spears said.
"It's important to our students here recognize (that) two to three years after graduating and getting their F-16 quals here or MQ-9 quals here they could be facing the same kind of experiences that I did," Spears said.
Operation Southern Watch took place between August 1992 and March 2003 in southern Iraq. Operation Noble Eagle was the name given to military operations related to local, state and federal agencies regarding homeland security following the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Most of Spears' service in the past 20 years has been at bases in Alaska and Hawaii where he had both flying and staff assignments.
Nicole Maxwell can be contacted by email at nmaxwell@alamogordonews.com, by phone at 575-415-6605 or on Twitter at @nicmaxreporter.
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This article originally appeared on Alamogordo Daily News: Holloman AFB welcomes new 49th Wing commander
