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2nd Air Force changes command

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Kimberly Rae Moore
  • 81st Training Wing Public Affairs
KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  Maj. Gen. Leonard Patrick relinquished command of the 2nd Air Force to Brig. Gen Mark Brown during a change of command ceremony here July 3.

Gen. Robin Rand, commander of Air Education and Training Command, presided over the ceremony.

Rand praised outgoing commander, Maj. Gen. Leonard Patrick.

"(Patrick) has led the charge of a major overhaul in Basic Military Training, and I firmly believe the Airmen entering our Air Force have never been better trained than they are today," he said.

During the ceremony Rand also addressed the Airmen in attendance and applauded their dedication.

"Throughout my career I have personally observed your actions both on the parade fields and on the battle fields and there's no way for me to properly express my admiration," he said. "I'm very proud to be considered one of your wingmen."

Traditionally, the changing of command authority is represented symbolically by passing of the guidon. After Rand received the guidon from Patrick he passed it to Brown and in that instant, Brown officially took command of 2nd AF.

"It's an honor to be afforded this opportunity and to be trusted to command the 2nd AF," said Brown. "This is a dream job and I'm pretty happy to be here."

"As a commander it's an honor and a privilege to lead Airmen, it's not a right," Brown added during an interview following the ceremony. "So every morning when I get up, I have to earn the right to lead Airmen. They deserve nothing less. It's not just about saying integrity first, service before self and excellence in all we do, I have to live that 24/7."

Brown's advice to all Airmen is, "Bloom where you're planted."

He explained that when you join the Air Force, you go where you're told and that when he joined he wanted to be stationed in Florida. To that, he said, "I want you to know, 27 and a half years later, I've never been stationed in Florida, but I've had some great assignments and with every one, I had the intent to do as well as I could. That's the key, bloom where you're planted. Today's job is the best one you'll ever have."

Patrick took command of 2nd AF, July 21, 2011 and will now move on to Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, to serve as the AETC vice commander.

Second Air Force is responsible for conducting basic military and technical training for Air Force, Joint and Coalition partners. The command also trains and provides oversight of Airmen completing Army training prior to Joint Expeditionary Tasking missions.

Second Air Force manages all operational aspects of more than 2,700 active training courses taught to approximately 150,000 U.S. and international Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, and coalition personnel annually. The command oversees the training at Goodfellow AFB, Texas; JBSA-Lackland, Texas; Keesler AFB; Sheppard AFB, Texas; a training group at Vandenberg AFB, California; and 92 training detachments worldwide. There are 10,420 active duty and civilian personnel including 977 officers, 6,089 enlisted, 3,012 civilians and 342 contractors supporting 108 operating locations worldwide.
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