38th CEG welcomes new commander Published July 19, 2011 By Brandice J. O'Brien Tinker Public Affairs TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- The 38th Cyberspace Engineering Group welcomed new Commander Lt. Col. Cynthia Wright July 8. Colonel Wright succeeded Col. Christopher Cotts, who at the change of command ceremony received the Legion of Merit award. Col. Robert Skinner, commander of the 688th Information Operations Wing at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, presided over the ceremony in front of Bldg. 4069 at the 38th CEG complex. Approximately 150 people attended the event. "With a lot of great experience and great stratifications throughout her career, Lieutenant Colonel Wright is the perfect person to lead this organization to the next level," Colonel Skinner said. "As we look forward to the next couple of years under her leadership, the sky is the limit." Colonel Wright arrived at Tinker from the Pentagon where she served as the branch chief for the Joint Staff Directorate of Operations Cyberspace Operations Division. But, the colonel is no stranger to Oklahoma or Tinker. From June 1994 to May 1997, the colonel served as the branch chief for Deployment Plans and the flight commander of the 32nd Combat Communications Squadron. With a wealth of communications systems and information assurance experience at base, major command and joint staff levels, the colonel is passionate about the cyberspace field. "It used to really bug me when people said 'cyberspace was the only man-made domain and it was special that way.' That got in the way of our efforts to operationalize cyber operations," said Colonel Wright. "But recently, I heard an observation that with a man-made domain, we made it and we can change it. Engineering to me is the art and science of controlled change, and you guys are truly the folks creating cyberspace." Her predecessor, Colonel Cotts, arrived at the 38th CEG in 2009. Colonel Skinner said he accomplished great feats during his tenure, comparing the colonel's achievements to a stonecutter. "They whack at these stones five times, ten times, 15 times, 20 times, 100 times and nothing happens, but on the 101st whack at that stone, the stone breaks in two and you have something that you can work with," Colonel Skinner said. "Chris, you have whacked a lot of stones and a lot of them are in half or three quarters, but have created a great baseline. Your job is complete and well done, and we cannot thank you enough for your leadership for the last couple of years." Colonel Cotts reminisced on his tenure, thanked his staff and said he is proud and humbled to have been given the opportunity to lead the group. "I'm about to join a long blue line of commanders that began with John W. Hope, for whom the Hope Gate is named and I'm going to be one of hundreds of thousands of faces in that line," Colonel Cotts said. "It is the greatest honor of my professional career to join that line and to have led you and led among you. Thank you very much." Colonel Cotts leaves Tinker to be the 7th Air Force director of communications at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea.