EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska – Lt. Col. Benjamin Doyle assumed command of the 168th Operations Support Squadron, Alaska Air National Guard, today during a ceremony held at the unit’s operations group theater. Col. Bryan White, commander of the 168th Operations Group, was the presiding officer.
Doyle assumed command of the squadron after serving in several different roles within the operations group and within the 168th Wing.
“Lt. Col. Doyle is absolutely the right person to take command of the support squadron,” said White in his opening comments at the ceremony.
“Ben has served in a lot of different positions within the group, and has spent time at the wing as well. His experience is going to help this squadron continue to move forward,” said White.
The operations support squadron encompasses aircrew flight equipment, intelligence, airfield management, host aviation resource management, boom operators, pilots, crew communication, scheduling, and the administration support for each of these area.
Doyle expressed his gratitude and thanked Col. White for the opportunity to lead the squadron, but he kept his comments brief.
“I am not big on speeches, and what I really want to do is thank my wife and give her some flowers,” said Doyle as he handed his wife, Katie, a bouquet.
The operations support squadron is part of the operations group, which is responsible for providing early warning of ballistic missile attack against the United States and Canada, as well as the tracking of space objects in low earth orbit for Air Force Space Command and for North American Aerospace Defense Command air sovereignty alert.
Additionally, the Interior-Alaska Air Guard unit is responsible for short-notice worldwide contingency operations, supporting global refueling, and airlift taskings throughout the Pacific theater. [xyz-ihs snippet=”Adsense-responsive”]
