Team BLAZE welcomes Fisher as new vice commander

  • Published
  • 14th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  Team BLAZE welcomes the 14th Flying Training Wing's new vice wing commander, Col. James Fisher and his family, to Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi.
Fisher will begin his duties June 22.

As the new vice commander, Fisher is responsible for day-to-day operations of base support functions and mission activities of more than 3,600 people, an operations and maintenance budget of $147 million and capital assets and equipment exceeding $2.3 billion. In addition, the wing supports seven associate units and provides essential contingency mission support for Air Education and Training Command.

Prior to his current position, Colonel Fisher served as the Director of Safety, Air Education and Training Command, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas. He led flight, ground and explosive mishap prevention programs for nearly 63,000 command personnel charged to recruit, train and educate more than 320,000 people annually via Air Force Recruiting Service, Air University, 2nd Air Force, and 1,369 trainer, fighter and mobility aircraft.


No stranger to Columbus, Fisher entered the Air Force in 1991 as an Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps graduate from Mississippi State University and held numerous positions on Columbus AFB throughout his career. His first assignment was as a personnel officer at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, and the Pentagon where he worked personnel issues supporting the National Capital Region and the 6,000-plus military members assigned to the Washington, D.C., metro area. He was selected for pilot training and earned his wings at Columbus AFB, Mississippi. His first operational assignment was in the KC-10A Extender with the 2nd Air Refueling Squadron at McGuire AFB, N.J., where he participated in world-wide mobility operations and multiple combat, combat support and humanitarian operations. He then returned to Columbus AFB as a T-1A Jayhawk specialized undergraduate pilot training instructor, helping to train more than 1,000 of the next generation of mobility aviators. Following attendance at Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell AFB, Alabama, he was assigned to the Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for International Affairs at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., as a country director for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As the country director he managed a $25 billion portfolio of foreign military sales cases supporting the Royal Saudi Air Force and was the political-military expert supporting the Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Air Force on policy and security cooperation issues. He then served as the operations officer and commander of the 99th Flying Training Squadron, Randolph AFB, Texas, training the cadre of T-1A instructor pilots for specialized undergraduate pilot training duty.


ASSIGNMENTS
1. May 1992 - July 1992, personnel officer, technical training, Keesler AFB, Mississippi
2. July 1992 - August 1993, Chief, Customer Service, Military Personnel Flight, Ft. Meade, Maryland
3. August 1993 - December 1995, Chief, Personnel Relocations and Employment, Military Personnel Flight, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
4. January 1996 - January 1997, student, specialized undergraduate pilot training, Columbus AFB, Mississippi
5. February 1997 - June 2001, KC-10 instructor aircraft commander/flight commander, 2nd Air Refueling Squadron, McGuire AFB, N.J.
6. July 2001 - June 2003, T-1A instructor aircraft commander and assistant flight commander, 48th Flying Training Squadron, Columbus AFB, Mississippi
7. June 2003 - March 2004, Chief, Standardization and Evaluation, 48th Flying Training Squadron, Columbus AFB, Mississippi
8. March 2004 - January 2005, Executive Officer, 14th Flying Training Wing, Columbus AFB, Mississippi
9. January 2005 - July 2005, Director of Staff, 14th Flying Training Wing, Columbus AFB, Mississippi
10. July 2005 - June 2006, student, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Alabama
11. June 2006 - May 2008, Country Director, Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force, International Affairs, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
12. June 2008 - May 2010, Director of Operations, 99th Flying Training Squadron, Randolph AFB, Texas
13. May 2010 - May 2012, Commander, 99th Flying Training Squadron, Randolph AFB, Texas
14. May 2012 - July 2012, Deputy Commander, 12th Operations Group, Randolph AFB, Texas
15. July 2012 - July 2013, Chief of Staff, 9th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force-Afghanistan and Deputy Chief of Staff-Air, ISAF Joint Command, Kabul, Afghanistan
16. August 2013 - June 2015, Director of Safety, Headquarters Air Education and Training Command, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas
17. June 2015 - present, Vice Commander, 14th Flying Training Wing, Columbus AFB, Mississippi