RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
"No new commander should ever walk in with a plan to change the unit, but they shouldn't hesitate to make changes if necessary -- that's what leadership is about," said Col. Scott D. Peel, 902nd Mission Support Group commander.
Colonel Peel assumed command of the 902nd MSG from Col. Alan T. Lake in a ceremony here Aug. 2.
Before his new assignment, Colonel Peel recently worked as the executive officer to General Stephen Lorenz, Air Education and Training Command commander.
The colonel, who is a career space and missile officer, said the biggest challenge he can foresee in his new assignment is understanding the depth of the various aspects of his job and learning about the more than 1,500 Airmen who serve under him, as well as the vast duties they perform.
The 902nd MSG has a broad mission. It's involved in civil engineering, security and law enforcement, telecommunications, personnel, logistics, contracting, services and trainer development.
"It's hard to appreciate the members of a unit if you don't understand the work they perform every day," Colonel Peel said. "The 902nd MSG is a large organization blessed with hundreds of hardworking members dedicated to the mission, and they deserve a commander equally committed to them."
Colonel Peel said he never thought he would be a group commander, including when he was a lieutenant colonel serving as a squadron commander in Thule Air Base, Greenland. His father was a chief master sergeant and grew up mostly in Europe the Air Force.
"As a 2nd Lt., I definitely didn't envision I'd be a colonel or a group commander. But what's more important is it didn't matter what I thought, but depended upon what my commanders and supervisors thought," he said. "They're the ones who, over the years, have mentored me, pushed me and enabled me to be considered and ultimately selected for group command."
He said he was first interested in joining the Air Force as a junior in high school when he joined JROTC. There, he learned the Air Force had more to it than he realized before, aspects he never thought about before. He earned a scholarship through ROTC where he attended the University of Missouri, Rolla.
"I'm a firm believer that it doesn't matter where you're assigned, what unit you're in, what job you're doing or what rank you are, you always have the ability to make a difference, to learn and develop, and serve honorably," he said.