Wing commander hosts town hall meeting

  • Published
  • By Airman Sondra M. Wieseler
  • 49th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  More than 40 Alamogordo residents attended a briefing by Col. Jeff Harrigian, 49th Fighter Wing commander, at the Senior Center April 28, where he discussed goals for the upcoming year.

Colonel Harrigian gave the audience a look at where the 49 FW is headed, the key challenges associated with the mission change from F-117A Nighthawk to F-22A Raptor and explained what the Raptor will bring to the community.

"Very few locations are blessed to have the opportunity to get this air frame," said Colonel Harrigian. "It's really because of the folks like you, the airspace and frankly this environment that the Chief of Staff of our Air Force decided to put the F-22 here."

To emphasize how the wing is supporting the War on Terror, he introduced Airmen 1st Class Karla Jimenez, a young Airman with the 49th Civil Engineer Squadron, who shared her experiences both in the Air Force so far and her deployment to Afghanistan

Airman Jimenez was tasked to deploy after three months at Holloman, her first duty station, she said, and her orders were to report to the 819th First Expeditionary Red Horse Squadron, Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan.

"Once I arrived in Afghanistan they immediately put me to work," she stated.

She addressed her responsibilities in the deployed environment and how it differed from working back home.

"One of my most memorable moments was when we were working on the Bak 12 project and an F-15 jet was preparing to take off," said Airman Jimenez. "If I were 30 feet tall, I swear I could have touched it with my bare hand. That's how low they flew over us. It was the greatest sensation I've ever felt having the jet take off so close to me, considering a year ago the closest I'd been to a fighter jet would have been through a movie screen."

Following a round of applause for Airman Jiminez's work, the colonel expanded on the retirement of the F-117A Nighthawk, the arrival of the first two F-22A Raptors, scheduled for June 6, and all of the changes that will be made this year because of it.

"Many people came up to me and felt very privileged and felt great pride in [the F-117A]," said Colonel Harrigian. "Our goal is to make you feel that same type of pride, camaraderie and ownership with the F-22A."

The colonel also touched on how Airmen take care of each other during deployment, pre-deployment and post deployment by mentioning education opportunities for families of deploying Airmen, relationship counselors and the two weeks of rest and relaxation each Airman receive upon their return.

Along with the arrival of the F-22A in June, another big change for the 49 FW is scheduled to be executed around October or November of this year.

"The Chief of Staff has directed we take a vast majority of our maintainers and put them under our operations group," said the colonel.

This would essentially reorganize the wing structure here and it takes much preparation and thought to ensure its done right, he said.

The colonel spoke about Airmen quality of life initiatives such as: the Adopt-an-Airman program, customer colleges available on base and the privatized housing construction project underway here.

Everyone who attended the meeting got a chance to get their questions answered by the colonel.

Ann French, an Alamogordo resident since 1995 and a duplex owner, attended the town hall meeting to find out how the base would impact housing issues downtown.

"I got a good indication of what to expect," said Ms. French. "He was really knowledgeable."

"I think it's important to have these meetings because sometimes we get misinformation," she added. "The rumor mill is wild and if we don't get the truth it's very misleading."

With the many different projects and changes that will take place this year for Holloman AFB, the colonel reiterated his principal goal.

"Ultimately, our job is to contribute to the mission of the Air Force," Colonel Harrigian said, ending the presentation. "We need to be ready and it's my job to make sure Team Holloman and 49 FW is ready to support that mission."