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505th Command and Control Wing News

505th Command and Control Wing Detachment 1 at Ft. Leavenworth gets new commander

  • Published
  • By Will King
  • Staff Writer, Leavenworth Lamp
FT. LEAVENWORTH, Kans. --  One of Fort Leavenworth's two U.S. Air Force units, Detachment 1 of the 505th Command and Control Wing, conducted a change of command ceremony March 4 in the Combined Arms Doctrine Directorate conference room in Muir Hall.
Col. Robert Beckel Jr. took command of Det. 1 from Col. James Thomas in a ceremony led by Col. Jack Shanahan, commander of the 505th CCW, based at Hurlburt Field, Fla.
Colonel Beckel, an F-16C pilot and B-52G/H aircraft commander and instructor pilot who goes by the callsign "B Squared," was deputy commander of the 505th CCW Operations Group at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., before coming to Fort Leavenworth.
"This is truly a humbling and exciting time for myself and my family. I look at all of you as my family," Colonel Beckel said, addressing the members of his new command.
Colonel Beckel has previous Army experience, having served as commander of the 11th Air Support Operations Squadron at Fort Hood, Texas. He was also the senior Air Force adviser to the 4th Infantry Division and served with them in Iraq.
Colonel Thomas has flown and been an instructor in the F-4G, F-111E and F-15E aircraft, and has 331 hours of combat flight time.
Before taking command of Det. 1 in November 2007, Colonel Thomas was the air liaison officer to the 101st Airborne Division in Iraq in 2006, and later commanded the 19th Air Support Operations Squadron at Fort Campbell, Ky.
"I learned more and more about how the Army does battle command and the difference between how the Army looks at it and how the Air Force looks at it," Colonel Thomas said of his time at Fort Leavenworth.
"One of the things I will take forward is a blended mix of Army and Air Force battle command so that hopefully we have a more cohesive air to ground integration," he said.
Thomas leaves Fort Leavenworth to command the newly formed 504th Expeditionary Air Support Operations Group in Afghanistan.
Colonel Shanahan described the 505th CCW as "the Air Force's only wing focused on operational level command and control. We have one of the most diverse missions in all of the Air Force," he said.
Det. 1 provides the Combined Arms Center with air and space power expertise across a broad spectrum of operations, and it works closely with the Battle Command Training Program's operations group.
Colonel Shanahan said the primary mission of Det. 1 is to: 
1. Provide theater accurate representation of what air and space power can do in the current fight; accomplished through mission readiness exercises.
2. Provide a doctrinally correct picture of air and space power; accomplished through warfighter exercises.
"We want to make sure the Army sees what the Air Force can bring to the fight," Colonel Shanahan said.

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505th Command and Control Wing Detachment 1 at Ft. Leavenworth gets new commander

  • Published
  • By Will King
  • Staff Writer, Leavenworth Lamp
FT. LEAVENWORTH, Kans. --  One of Fort Leavenworth's two U.S. Air Force units, Detachment 1 of the 505th Command and Control Wing, conducted a change of command ceremony March 4 in the Combined Arms Doctrine Directorate conference room in Muir Hall.
Col. Robert Beckel Jr. took command of Det. 1 from Col. James Thomas in a ceremony led by Col. Jack Shanahan, commander of the 505th CCW, based at Hurlburt Field, Fla.
Colonel Beckel, an F-16C pilot and B-52G/H aircraft commander and instructor pilot who goes by the callsign "B Squared," was deputy commander of the 505th CCW Operations Group at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., before coming to Fort Leavenworth.
"This is truly a humbling and exciting time for myself and my family. I look at all of you as my family," Colonel Beckel said, addressing the members of his new command.
Colonel Beckel has previous Army experience, having served as commander of the 11th Air Support Operations Squadron at Fort Hood, Texas. He was also the senior Air Force adviser to the 4th Infantry Division and served with them in Iraq.
Colonel Thomas has flown and been an instructor in the F-4G, F-111E and F-15E aircraft, and has 331 hours of combat flight time.
Before taking command of Det. 1 in November 2007, Colonel Thomas was the air liaison officer to the 101st Airborne Division in Iraq in 2006, and later commanded the 19th Air Support Operations Squadron at Fort Campbell, Ky.
"I learned more and more about how the Army does battle command and the difference between how the Army looks at it and how the Air Force looks at it," Colonel Thomas said of his time at Fort Leavenworth.
"One of the things I will take forward is a blended mix of Army and Air Force battle command so that hopefully we have a more cohesive air to ground integration," he said.
Thomas leaves Fort Leavenworth to command the newly formed 504th Expeditionary Air Support Operations Group in Afghanistan.
Colonel Shanahan described the 505th CCW as "the Air Force's only wing focused on operational level command and control. We have one of the most diverse missions in all of the Air Force," he said.
Det. 1 provides the Combined Arms Center with air and space power expertise across a broad spectrum of operations, and it works closely with the Battle Command Training Program's operations group.
Colonel Shanahan said the primary mission of Det. 1 is to: 
1. Provide theater accurate representation of what air and space power can do in the current fight; accomplished through mission readiness exercises.
2. Provide a doctrinally correct picture of air and space power; accomplished through warfighter exercises.
"We want to make sure the Army sees what the Air Force can bring to the fight," Colonel Shanahan said.