944th Force Support Squadron welcomes new commander

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Chris Moore
  • 944th Fighter Wing
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  The 944th Support Squadron held an assumption of command ceremony to welcome Maj. Jessica Takashige as their new commander here, Jan. 13.

Col. Gavin Tade, 944th Mission Support Group commander, presided over the event and gave accolades for Takashige, who was already serving as the interim commander for almost a year, building familiarity with the position and the squadron.

“Jessica is a special officer and she likes to work hard,” said Tade. “She takes care of her people, she takes care of her Airmen, and she takes care of the United States Air Force.”

Before transitioning to Luke, Takashige served as interim executive officer, Air Force Reserve Command/A1, Robins Air Force Base, GA.

“Thank you to the FSS for being the awesome unit that you are,” said Takashige. “You recently deployed to support worldwide missions and simultaneously helped family support back home. Without the FSS the wing cannot get done the things they need to function.”

Takashige is responsible for ensuring the unit’s mission to train all assigned Reservists to perform military personnel, family readiness, services, and communications functions for world-wide deployments in support of Air Force requirements.

At home station, the 944th FSS provides support services to mobilize and deploy 1,900 Reservists via military personnel, education and training services, Airman and Family Readiness, lodging, food service, and fitness. In addition, the unit consists of communications support, responsible for performing client support technician duties to include operating systems and customer support throughout wing.

“I am incredibly proud of the services that you provide to our 1,900 Airmen in this wing, service members around the globe and their families,” said Takashige. “As we approach the end of the Unit Effectiveness Inspection in October, I challenge you to look for ways we can improve our processes.”

Looking to the future, she shares her hopes with the Airmen she will be leading.

“Finally, I ask that each of you take care of each other, and take care of yourself as I will take care of you,” said Takashige. “I look forward to continuing to serve with each of you and getting to know you and your families.”