More than the first woman: Meet Barksdale's new B-52 squadron commander

Born and raised in the Miami Valley region, Lt. Col. Vanessa Wilcox has made her home in Bossier City for 13 years while serving as a B-52 Weapon Systems Officer.

On April 21, Wilcox became the first female B-52 squadron commander during a change-of-command ceremony.

But, Wilcox is more than just the first woman to hold that title.

"I am the first female B-52 squadron commander," said Wilcox. "I hate it because it's not about me, It's about the people that work for me. That becoming the focus, I feel like it detracts from them and what they are accomplishing, because that's really what it's about, I'm just there to move rocks out of their way and help them to get the job done."

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More about Wilcox

Wilcox describes her journey in the military as "a little non-traditional."

Born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, Wilcox grew to love and appreciate the military with Wright-Patterson Air Force Base just down the road from her hometown.

She said, "I grew up in Dayton, I wasn't a military family, even though I lived right by Wright-Patt."

Wilcox explained that she wanted to work with B-52s because her dad worked as a maintainer on D models in the Cuban Missile Crisis. "I knew, going through nav school, I was like, well, obviously, I want to fly in that plane."

Prior to Wilcox finding her dream aircraft, she attended Ohio University where she received her commission through ROTC and graduated in 2005.

"I joined ROTC in college after 9/11. And really wanted to do OSI originally, and then got a nav slot. So I basically had 15 minutes to decide if I wanted to be a navigator and was like, okay, I don't know what that means. But sure, that sounds fun. And so that's how I ended up with B-52s."

Upon graduation, Wilcox completed Combat Systems Officer training at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, where she learned weapon systems training for the B-52 aircraft. She graduated in the top third of her class.

After Wilcox finished her training at Randolph AFB, she was stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base until 2013 when she took a humanitarian backup tour at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base after her father passed away.

She made her way back to Barksdale in 2015 and has been there since.

"I joke that I'm trying to work in every building on base," said Wilcox.

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Being a Commander

"My role is the people. My entire job is taking care of them, managing my workforce, making sure I have the adequate number of people and they're trained appropriately for the mission set. So, that they can achieve whatever mission we are tasked."

Wilcox's whole career has been leading her to this position. With over 1,500 hours in the air, Wilcox has not only performed the task but helped train others.

In 2012, Wilcox served as an instructor and taught the Formal Training Unit in the 11th Bomb Squadron.

"The jobs I've done have been very non-traditional," said Wilcox. "It's given me a good broad view of how the Air Force and the wing operates."

Wilcox explained that part of her previous job was working with the Mission Support Group.

Wilcox said, "getting to see how all of those partnerships work on base and how every bit of those agencies contribute to the mission was a huge eye opener and really good to help build those relationships going forward to know how our LRS (logistics readiness squadron) counterparts get us from point A to point B."

Now Wilcox serves as the commander of the 96th Bomb Squadron, of the 2d Operations Group. In this role she not only manages a workforce but cares for families, career progression and as she likes to say "building my replacement."

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Looking to the future

Wilcox's goal is to grow airmen into the best versions of themselves and help them make positive impacts on society.

"I want them to be fully tied in, and to understand all the things that I've grown to understand later in my career," said Wilcox. "Building better officers and airmen so that they can reach out and be that conduit, across the base and across the community, and ultimately grow better leaders out of it."

Being the first female B-52 squadron commander Wilcox wanted to highlight the importance of skill set, not just an individual's characteristics.

Having two daughters, she understands the importance of diversity and inclusion and hopes that her achievements will show them they can do anything they set their minds to do.

She said, "honestly, I've never thought that I couldn't do something because I was a woman. It's never even occurred to me."

"Regardless of gender, or ethnicity or anything. Ultimately, it's about the people that work for me, and how to help make them better. And to make the Air Force better."

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Makenzie Boucher is a reporter with the Shreveport Times. Contact her at mboucher@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Meet Barksdale's new B-52 squadron commander