RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
Col. Ronald D. Buckley became the new commander of the 12th Operations Group during a change-of-command ceremony Thursday in Hangar 4.
Colonel Buckley, a recent graduate of Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., succeeds Col. Christopher P. Weggeman, who moves on to a new assignment at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, as U.S. senior national representative to the commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe.
The 12th Operations Group, which contains seven squadrons, conducts joint and allied pilot instructor training, Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals, and Air Force and Navy undergraduate combat systems officer training at Randolph.
Colonel Buckley, a 1989 graduate of the Air Force Academy, cited the friendship and mentorship of his academy sponsors, Dick and Jan Dold, as "an example of the impact each of us can have" during his address at the change-of-command ceremony.
"They are a testament to the notion that the best legacy each of us can leave in the Air Force is not a PowerPoint presentation or document we write, but our greatest legacy will be the generation we leave behind," he said. "Therefore, I encourage all of us to seek out those opportunities to mentor, both formally and informally, our young enlisted members and young officers."
Colonel Buckley also singled out Air Force Test Pilot School classmate and friend Maj. Aaron George, also known as "C-Dot," for the example he set as a "tenacious" and "meticulous" officer.
"If something wasn't right, something could be done more effectively, he charged into action, sometimes ruffling feathers when most would just let it go," he said.
Colonel Buckley said that C-Dot, who died in an F-16 test mission, once wrote that the Air Force's foremost objective should be to "develop more robust, war-capable, safer weapon systems."
"C-Dot understood the importance of our mission, even when most were happy just to let things be," he said. "The systems we were developing were, in fact, the systems we went to war with to fight the Global War on Terror."
Colonel Buckley called the 12th Operations Group's mission "just as, if not more, important, since we are developing, teaching and building the most highly sophisticated parts of our weapon system ... that being the aircrew members and warriors who fly, operate and employ these weapon systems."
Prior to attending Air War College, Colonel Buckley was chief of the Operations and Training Branch on the Air Education and Training Command Inspector General team at Randolph. He served as senior military aide to Vice President Dick Cheney from March 2004 to May 2006.
A command pilot with 2,600 hours in 25 aircraft, including the Goodyear Blimp, T-38, F-15E and F-16, he was twice deployed to the Middle East in support of Operation Southern Watch.