Laughlin MSG commander takes a whirlwind tour

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Desiree Economides
  • 47th Flying Training Wing public affairs
LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  The new kid on the block has to learn the ropes and pecking order of the neighborhood. Although not a "kid" in the Air Force, Col. Angela Cadwell, 47th Mission Support Group commander, is new to Air Education Training Command and Laughlin.

Colonel Cadwell recently joined the Airmen of the 47th Operations Group for a day-long orientation to the flying world and to better understand the wing's mission of pilot training.

During the tour, Colonel Cadwell visited the simulators, sat in on an instructor pilot preparation and student pilot stand up, toured the flightline, taxiways and runway supervisory units. She also walked through several OG facilities to get a sense of age, structural integrity of the buildings and needed renovation.

Additionally, Colonel Cadwell flew in a T-6 aircraft completing some of the flight patterns to see the impact of runway obstructions and new construction in the private sector that might impact Laughlin's mission.

"The tour reinforced that every aspect of the MSG impacts and directly supports the OG's mission from refueling their aircraft, to ordering replacement parts, maintaining their facilities, providing the means for scheduling and command and control, protecting the aircraft and taking care of the Airmen, civilians and contractors that fly the aircraft and train students," said Colonel Cadwell.

The MSG works with their current mission capabilities to meet the needs of its customers in a balancing act, which is why spending the day with the OG was helpful.

"Spending a day walking in the shoes of our customers provides a very tangible understanding of the challenges they face and the opportunities we can exploit particularly as we look to the future of harnessing information technology and infrastructure improvements supporting the Wing's 2030 Vision," said Col. Cadwell.

The Airmen from the OG left an obvious impact on the colonel.

"It was impressive to see how complex their mission is and how smoothly it operates," said Colonel Cadwell. "The professionalism, knowledge and skill of the instructors is clearly evident."