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“America’s Wing” says a fond farewell to Col. Hoffman

  • Published
  • By Brandice J. Armstrong
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Col. Pat Hoffman is leaving Tinker ... again. The 552nd Air Control Wing commander who has been stationed at the 552nd ACW three times in her Air Force career is completing her command tour and heading to Stuttgart, Germany where she will be the foreign policy advisor to the commander of United States European Command.
Since arriving at Tinker in 2008 for her most recent assignment, Colonel Hoffman said the opportunity to command the air control wing has reinforced for her the creativity, resourcefulness and dedication of the wing's Airmen.

"We've had taskings, double taskings late-night taskings, and our Airmen always came through," the colonel said. "I'm very proud to be a member of this wing and it's an honor to be able to say for the rest of my career that I was the wing commander of the 552nd ACW, simply because of the spectrum of things we do and how well we do them."
Recounting the accomplishments of "America's Wing," she said in addition to the accolades and awards, it was the Airmen's day-to-day performance that impressed her the most.

For instance, in April 2009, Colonel Hoffman remembered, 552 ACW Airmen helped fight wildfires all day Saturday and then, early the next day, Easter Sunday morning, they conducted business as usual - launching E-3 AWACS aircraft to Barbados to protect President Barack Obama at the Summit of the Americas.

"I'm sure Airmen were thinking, 'I just hosed down my house and tried to keep my front lawn from burning,'" the colonel said. "Yet, they had to come in to launch jets and they did. That kind of dedication just reinforces my belief that Airmen really do a fantastic job for our Air Force."

And, that's just one example but her vice commander, Col. Scott Forest, attributes the wing's accomplishments to their great leader.

"Colonel Hoffman is the smartest officer I have ever served under and she is the most dedicated to serving the Airmen in her command that I have seen," Colonel Forest said. "She made all of us better because of her leadership, and she inspired us to strive to continuously improve. The wing will miss her leadership and experience as one of the world's foremost C2 and Battle Management experts."

Lt. Col. Preston Kise, 55nd ACW director of Staff, agreed.

"Colonel Hoffman is the hardest working person I have worked for in 26 years in the Air Force," he said. "She sets a duty pace and high personal standards that are unmatched and exemplary. I think she takes the greatest pride in telling anyone who will listen that we are the best C2 and Battle Management unit in the world and it's all due to the hard work and dedication of the men and women throughout the wing doing their job every day and pushing each other to keep getting better."

Colonel Hoffman reiterated it's all about the Airmen.

Colonel Hoffman said one day in May this year showed the versatility of the wing's Airmen. During that 24-hour period, the wing finished an inspection, deployed 125 personnel to Operation Enduring Freedom, and had both wing weapon systems - E-3 aircraft and Control and Reporting Center ground radar units - participating in a United States Central Command mission synchronization event at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. The wing also flew an AWACS Exercise Green Flag combat training sortie from Tinker, flew a sortie to protect President Obama as he visited Youngstown, Ohio, and flew a counterdrug mission over the Caribbean. Additionally, the wing flew a combat mission over Afghanistan, controlled combat airspace over Iraq from a CRC, conducted classes at the wing's two schoolhouses, for AWACS and for CRCs, repaired aircraft damaged by a hail storm two days before, and rolled out a new version of AWACS computer software for operators to train on.

"We did everything from fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan to schoolhouse training here. There is no other unit in the entire Department of Defense that does all that in one day," the colonel said. "And we can do it because of the terrific Airmen we have here at America's Wing."

The colonel said it's not surprising that her Airmen have been recognized for their efforts and rewarded with the Air Combat Command Meritorious Award for 2009 and the Chief of Staff Team Excellence Award for 2009.

"It's rare for a wing to win for an operational flying initiative. Usually it's won by units involved with manufacturing, test, equipment development or inspection, etc., because their objective is productivity and making things better as a process," Colonel Hoffman said. "The CSAF award was a great feather in our Airmen's cap."

Colonel Hoffman first came to Tinker as a second lieutenant in 1987 and was an Air Weapons officer in the 963rd Airborne Air Control Squadron. She transitioned to the 552nd Training Squadron as an instructor, and then to the wing's Standards and Evaluations Office as an evaluator before leaving the wing in 1991 as a captain. She returned in 2000 as a Mission Crew commander and director of Operations of the 964th Airborne Air Control Squadron. Colonel Hoffman departed the wing again in 2002 to assume command of the 608th Combat Operations Squadron at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., but returned six years later to become the 552nd ACW commander.