News Search

ArticleS

Rogers takes command of 19 AF

  • Published
  • By Michael Briggs
  • 12th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Maj. Gen. Marc Rogers replaced Maj. Gen. Edward Ellis as 19th Air Force commander during a change of command ceremony here Oct. 21.

Gen. William R. Looney III, commander of Air Education and Training Command, presided over the ceremony in front of the base operations facility here.

General Ellis led 19th Air Force since June 2004. He leaves Randolph to retire in his hometown of Montgomery, Ala., and will conclude his career with a retirement ceremony there at Maxwell AFB in November.

General Rogers comes to 19th Air Force from Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, where he served as AFMC Transformation Director. As 19th AF commander, he is responsible for managing all flying training in Air Education and Training Command.

General Looney said General Rogers is the right person to continue move 19th AF forward.

"Today we bring another superstar to command 19th Air Force," General Looney said at the ceremony. "General 'Buck' Rogers has everything we need to continue the upward vector of 19th Air Force.

"As an aviator in the tactical arena, he's done it all - air-to-air, air-to-ground. He understands what is needed and what it takes to develop the aviators who not only will triumph in combat, but will survive in combat."

He also understands balancing the challenges of the mission and taking care of the families in his charge, General Looney said.

General Rogers is a command pilot with more than 2,300 flying hours, including more than 180 combat hours, in the F-15, F-16 and F-117. He has served as an electronic combat pilot, aggressor pilot, instructor pilot, operations officer, squadron commander, operations group commander and 49th Fighter Wing commander at Holloman AFB, N.M. He has led combat operations in Iraq and Bosnia.

In his remarks after taking command, General Rogers said he was thrilled to join the AETC team.

"From everything we've seen since we arrived at Randolph Air Force Base, this is a fired up team and the kind we like being on," he said of his family's first impressions.

In addressing the troops assembled, General Rogers spoke of the significance of the 19th Air Force mission.

"We couldn't have a more important mission at this time than training America's Airmen," he said. "It's perhaps more important now than at any time in our history, because we're at war and our Air Force is undergoing change.

"It's up to this command to provide the Airmen who are properly trained in the expeditionary culture and trained to face unorthodox enemies around the world. I could not be more proud to join the team, and I pledge you 100-percent support as you execute the mission."

The general said he is looking forward to base visits throughout 19th Air Force so he can personally let the members of the command know he is there to support them and to "make sure their quality of service is as high as possible."

Nineteenth Air Force includes more than 31,000 people and operates nearly 1,800 aircraft of 21 different models flying more than 580,000 hours annually. The headquarters here is responsible for the execution of Air Force initial qualification and follow-on combat crew flying training programs with graduates reporting to warfighting commands.

The 19th Air Force also conducts annual aircrew standardization and evaluation visits to its units to assess the effectiveness of training programs.