944th Fighter Wing gets new commander

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Susan Stout
  • 944th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  Col. Richard W. Scobee took command July 14 of the 944th Fighter Wing. 

Colonel Scobee recently expressed his thoughts of taking command of the wing and his vision for the future and the partnership with the 56th Fighter Wing. 

"I am excited about the opportunity to take command of the 944th Fighter Wing," Colonel Scobee said. "We've recently undergone significant changes because of BRAC, our focus now is where we go with the future of this wing." 

"We have incredibly talented people that will make us successful in EVERY group and squadron...whether it is training F-16 pilots, supporting the war or our extensive humanitarian projects," he said.
 
In his previous assignment as commander, 944th Operations Group, Colonel Scobee oversaw the 301st and 302nd Fighter Squadrons which, at that time, contained more than half of the F-16 pilots in all of the Air Force Reserve Command. 

Among Colonel Scobee's top goals are ensuring a strong integrated relationship with the 56th Fighter Wing, enhancing reserve awareness, and providing a positive public image for the reserve through humanitarian missions. 

"In our vision of Total Force Integration, it is our responsibility to look for new and better ways to adapt the changing requirements," said the Air Force Academy graduate. "We have had 20 great years of success and we will continue to provide quality support to the total force team in the future." 

The 944th Fighter Wing will also continue to work to improve Reserve awareness with civilian employers, community leaders and our military counterparts, he said.
"Whether to the AOR, Africa, El Salvador or Germany, our support personnel did great things to assist others," Colonel Scobee said. "We will continue supporting humanitarian missions and train and deploy assigned reservists providing combat ready warriors in support of any DOD mission requirement." 

A command pilot with more than 3,800 flying hours, including 248 combat hours, Colonel Scobee has flown combat missions in Iraq supporting Operations Desert Storm, Northern Watch and Southern Watch.