Command changes at Air Force wing
In a change-of-command ceremony Monday at Creech Air Force Base, Col. Peter Gersten replaced Col. Chris Chambliss as commander of the 432nd Wing, the Air Force's only unmanned aircraft wing.
Gersten will lead more than 2,000 airmen assigned to the 432nd Wing and the 432nd Air Expeditionary Wing. The wings fly and maintain MQ-1 Predators and MQ-9 Reapers that routinely fly combat spy missions over Iraq and Afghanistan. The planes are controlled remotely from ground stations in the United States and abroad.
The Creech base at Indian Springs, 45 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is the hub for unmanned aircraft systems training and operations. Lt. Gen. Norman Seip, commander of the 12th Air Force and the Air Force's Southern Command, presided over Monday's ceremony.
With two active-duty units, Gersten oversees more than 250 Air National Guard personnel flying Predators assigned to units in California, North Dakota, Texas and Arizona.
Gersten is an F-16 Fighting Falcon command pilot and former operations group commander for the 8th Fighter Wing at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea.
Chambliss, who lives in the Las Vegas Valley, is retiring.
The command change follows one last month at Nellis Air Force Base. On May 18, Brig. Gen. Stanley Kresge took over leadership of the Air Force Warfare Center from Maj. Gen. Stephen Hoog.
Before coming to Nellis, Kresge served as director of Air, Space and Nuclear Operations at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo.
Hoog, who had been at Nellis since 2007, left to become deputy commander of the Combined Forces Air Component for U.S. Central Command in Southwest Asia.
Hoog initially served as 57th Wing commander at Nellis before he was chosen to command the Air Force Warfare Center in 2008.
Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.
