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552nd ACNS salutes new commander

  • Published
  • By Brian Schroeder
  • Tinker Public Affairs, Staff Writer
Tinker AFB, Okla. --  Lt. Col. Jack Jurgensen passed the 552nd Air Control Networks Squadron guideon to Lt. Col. David Dethlefs in a change of command ceremony Aug. 5, officially signifying the change of responsibility from one commander to another.

Col. Roger Brown, Air Control Group commander, presided over the ceremony. He said the ceremony signifies two leaders continuing to grow their careers - one graduating the squadron command level, and another beginning a squadron command.

"Jack, you routinely do the routine and make the simple look simple," he said. "You will be missed, but I think we have the right leader for the ACNS."

Colonel Jurgensen's accomplishments at Tinker include several awards at the Air Force, Major Command, Numbered Air Force and Wing levels, closed approximately 20,000 trouble tickets across the Air Base Wing and deployed over 120 Airmen to support AWACS with radios and ADDMS suites.

"I'm glad I got to see the UCI through, to prove that not only can we get all of our primary missions done well, we can do that while deploying 15 to 20 percents of you," Colonel Jurgensen said. "We do all of this while maintaining one of the best PT programs on Tinker.

"We might be 'different' than the other units in the Wing, but I would say to you that different is a good thing," Colonel Jurgensen said. "That's not bad work for the 'nerds behind the birds. It has been my honor to serve you as your commander these past two years. I wish you all the best in the future."

Colonel Dethlefs thanked his new squadron for welcoming him to Tinker and making his first few days at Tinker an easy transition. This is his second tour at Tinker and he congratulated the squadron on accomplishing outstanding scores during the Unit Compliance Inspection.

"It's amazing to come back and take command here," he said. "I know one thing has changed since I was here last - I am a lot older and a lot wiser. I hope to bring my vigor and motivation to this squadron. I think we are going to have a couple of great years ahead of us."