Incoming wing commander assumes “awesome responsibility”

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Shawn J. Jones
  • 4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --  He fought two wars as an Airman of 4th Fighter Wing. Now he is returning as its leader.

Col. Mark D. Kelly, the wing's incoming commander, is quite familiar with the impact Seymour Johnson Airmen and aircraft have had in the war on terror.

"When you combine the responsibility of providing one-third of the nation's F-15E combat power with medical, maintenance and support Airmen to expeditionary rotations, you see the scope, the relevance and the responsibility that falls to the 4th Fighter Wing," Col. Mark Kelly said. "I am extremely fortunate to get the opportunity to lead this wing."

He will replace Col. Steve Kwast in a change of command ceremony Sept. 9 at 9:04 a.m. at Heritage Park here.

"It's an awesome responsibility," Colonel Kelly said.

This won't be Colonel Kelly's first shot at wing leadership. He is coming off of an assignment at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, where he was the vice commander of the 366th Fighter Wing.

He is also a battle-tested leader. When informed that he would be the 4th FW's next commander, Colonel Kelly was deployed to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, where he served as the 455th Fighter Wing vice commander.

"I was sitting 7,200 miles from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, but the mission impact of the 4th FW was ever-present in Afghanistan," he said. "We put a lethal blanket of American steel and technology over a war zone the size of Texas every single day, 24 hours a day."

Despite being a command pilot with more than 5,000 flying hours who has led combat missions over Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq, Colonel Kelly admitted he is facing one of his more daunting assignments.

"Show me someone who has to follow Colonel Steve Kwast at anything - badminton, horseshoes, public speaking, much less commanding a huge Fighter Wing - and I'll show you a guy who's just a little bit intimidated," Colonel Kelly said. "He's simply phenomenal."

While following Colonel Kwast might prove challenging, getting comfortable with the installation and the local area shouldn't require too much effort for the incoming commander.

"It's home," said Colonel Kelly, who was stationed here from June 2001 to May 2006.

"My wife Tanya and I have lifelong friends in and around Goldsboro," he said. "My son and daughter both graduated from Charles B. Aycock High School in Pikeville. I watched 9/11 unfold from my house in Goldsboro."

Colonel Kelly is also no stranger to Strike Eagles.

Throughout the 1990s, he served in F-15E assignments at Luke AFB, Ariz., Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, and Lakenheath Royal Air Force Base, United Kingdom.

From 1998 to 2001, he took a break from Strike Eagles to serve in an officer exchange program with the Royal Australian Air Force and to attend Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell AFB, Ala.

Colonel Kelly returned to F-15Es when he was assigned to the 4th Operational Support Squadron here in 2001. He went on to become the 336th Fighter Squadron's director of operations and 333rd FS commander.

After leading the 4th FW for two years, Colonel Kwast will move to Langley AFB, Va., to become the Air Combat Command deputy director of requirements.