747th ACSG welcomes new commander

Published May 27, 2010
By John Stuart
Tinker Public Affairs

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- In the Tinker Club ballroom, filled with co-workers, friends and family, Col. John A. Fisher assumed command of the 747th Aircraft Sustainment Group May 13.

Colonel Fisher succeeded Col. Keith Weyenberg, who is retiring after more than 27 years of service in the Air Force. Colonel Weyenberg will retire on July 1. It was a day of mixed emotion for the outgoing 747th ACSG commander, as he relinquished a group that has shown marked success in the last several years.

"I'm looking forward to being part of such an important mission," said Colonel Fisher, who spent almost five years as an E-3 weapons director, senior director and instructor senior director at Tinker's 552nd Air Control Wing in the 1990s. "Our mission is so critical here. I've been on the receiving end of one of these weapons systems and I understand how important these missions are to the warfighter."

Colonel Fisher joined the Air Force in 1988 and most recently served as the division chief of the Operational Capabilities Division, U.S. Strategic Command Center of Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction, Fort Belvoir, Va.

"Without the great work of Tinker Air Force Base, the Air Force would be hard pressed to succeed in its mission to fly, fight and win," Colonel Fisher said.

Colonel Weyenberg, who assumed control of the 747th ACSG in July 2007, leaves behind an upstanding group that saw a major restructuring under his command, when the B-1 Bomber support was phased out of the 747th ACSG. The wing also handled several higher-profile maintenance situations during his time as commander, including the transportation and disposal of a damaged B-2 back to the United States from Guam, as well as the relocation of a B-1 that had to fly from the Southwest Asia Theater to England with only three engines.

"The people are what make this organization great," Colonel Weyenberg said. "They've continually been called on to make more of our sustained aircraft systems in terms of support and availability to our war fighters and they're the reason why I've been so proud to have led the 747th ACSG."