JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. –
The 192nd Fighter Wing, Virginia Air National Guard, held a joint change of command ceremony for the 192nd Maintenance Group and Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Feb. 25, 2018, at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia. Lt. Col. Sarah M. Beck, former 192nd Maintenance Operations Flight commander, assumed command of the 192nd AMXS from Col. Catherine M. Jumper. Jumper then assumed command of the 192nd MXG.
The presiding officer of the ceremony, Col. Frank J. “Kidd” Lobash, 192nd FW commander, expressed his confidence in both leaders at the ceremony.
“What I’m about to say, I don’t say lightly,” said Lobash. “There is no doubt in my mind that this maintenance group standing in front of me right now is the absolute best group of mechanics and maintainers the world has to offer. You are now the benchmark setters, and you have a leadership team in place that is going to take you to new heights you never thought imaginable.”
Jumper’s Air Force career began in 1995 when she was recognized as a distinguished graduate of the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at the University of Virginia. She became a member of the 192nd FW in 2015.
During the ceremony, Jumper took the opportunity to tell the Airmen of the MXG how proud she is to serve with such a dedicated team in defense of the nation.
“At a time when many brands of extremism threaten the very idea of individual freedom and national identity, we, all of us here at Langley, represent the most sophisticated power the United States can employ to combat these threats,” Jumper said. “I am grateful to you, my fellow Airmen, who are the reason we are the world’s greatest Air Force.”
As the new squadron commander, Beck thanked the men and women of the AMXS for their service and praised them for their work. “I am honored and humbled to be your commander,” she said.
Beck graduated from the Air Force Academy in 2003 and joined the 192nd FW in 2007 where she has served in a variety of positions.
“For nearly a decade I’ve traveled from all over the country to be here every month because I love this mission, and I truly believe that you all are the nation’s finest citizen Airmen,” Beck said.
The change of command ceremony is a military tradition rooted in history in which uniquely developed flags for each organization are publicly exchanged from the hands of the former commander to the hands of the new commander. This ceremony symbolically marks the change of leadership in military organizations.