COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Team BLAZE welcomes Col. Stan Lawrie as the 14th Operations Group Commander.
Col. John Nichols, 14th Flying Training Wing Commander, handed Lawrie the reigns during a change of command ceremony July 15 at the McAllister Fire Station.
The 14th OG conducts pilot training and Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals for more than 400 U.S. Air Force and international officers each year, using a fleet of 234 T-6A, T-38C and T-1A aircraft and 27 flight simulators at Columbus. In addition, the group directs the tactical training for Afghan pilots and maintenance members utilizing the A-29 Super Tucano at Moody AFB, Georgia.
The 81st Fighter Squadron at Moody was activated in January 2015 and will grow to 20 A-29 Super Tucano aircraft that will be used to train 30 Afghan pilots and 90 maintainers through 2018. They will support air-to-ground fires and aerial reconnaissance in support of Afghan National Security Force operations.
The 14th Operations Group also oversees an air traffic control complex with over 300,000 aircraft movements annually. His command includes eight squadrons and over 1,300 officers, civilians, enlisted and contract personnel.
After being commissioned from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1994, Lawrie attended intelligence officer training at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas. He was assigned to HQ Air Force Materiel Command, Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio, and served as a Foreign Materiel Acquisition officer where he was selected to assist the map building team for the Dayton Peace Talks in support of the Bosnian conflict.
After competing for and being accepted to cross-train, he attended Joint Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training at Vance AFB, Oklahoma. He was assigned to MacDill AFB, Florida, where he earned his instructor qualification. He has since served as an instructor and evaluator pilot in the KC-135 at Altus AFB, Oklahoma, as the Chief of Training and Wing Executive Officer.
As a member of the first Political Affairs Specialist class, he was assigned to the Royal Joint Services Command and Staff College. Upon graduating, he was assigned as an exchange officer to the Royal Air Force as the Chief of Combat Support for the United Kingdom’s Joint Force Air Component Command Headquarters.
He moved to McConnell AFB, Kansas, where he was assigned as the Chief of Safety. As CoS, he deployed to Manas AB, Kyrgyzstan, where he oversaw the safe expansion of the Northern Gateway into Afghanistan. Following his tour, he took command of the 384th Air Refueling Squadron and led his squadron through a tumultuous period of military operations supporting warfighters on three fronts and was awarded the Spaatz Trophy, recognizing them as the best Air Refueling Squadron in the Air Force in 2011.
During his second year of command, he was selected to command the 340th EARS at Al Udeid AB, Qatar, for a brief period during a projected absence of the assigned commander.
ASSIGNMENTS
1. Oct 1994 - Jun 1995, Student, Intelligence Officer Training, Goodfellow AFB, Texas
2. Jul 1995 – Apr 1998, Foreign Materiel Acquisition, Intel Applications Officer, HQ AFMC, Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio
3. May 1998 – May 1999, Student, Undergraduate Pilot Training, Vance AFB, Oklahoma
4. Jul 1999 - Oct 1999, KC-135 Copilot Initial Qual Training, Altus AFB, Oklahoma
5. Oct 1999 – Oct 2000, Standardization/Evaluation Copilot, 91st ARS, MacDill AFB, Florida
6. Oct 2000 - Jan 2002, KC-135 Aircraft Commander, Assistant Chief Training, 91st ARS, MacDill AFB, Florida
7. Feb 2002 - May 2002, Wing Scheduler, 6th Operations Support Squadron, MacDill AFB, Florida
8. May 2002 - Jun 2003, 6th Operations Group Exec Officer, KC-135 Instructor Pilot, MacDill AFB, Florida
9. Sept 2003 – May 2004, Assistant Chief of Training, KC-135 Combat Crew Training School Instructor Pilot, 54th ARS, Altus AFB, Oklahoma
10. May 2004 - May 2005, Chief of Training, KC-135 Instructor/Evaluator, 54 ARS, Altus AFB, Oklahoma
11. May 2005 – Jun 2006, Wing Executive Officer, KC-135 Evaluator Plt, 97 AMW, Altus AFB, Oklahoma
12. Jul 2006 – Jul 2007, Student, Royal Joint Services, Advanced Command and Staff College, UK
13. Jul 2007 – Jul 2008, RAF Chief of Combat Support, United Kingdom Joint Force Air Component Command Headquarters, High Wycombe, UK
14. Jul 2008 - December 2009, RAF Chief of Strategy, United Kingdom Joint Force Air Component Command Headquarters, High Wycombe, UK
15. Dec 2009 – Mar 2011, Chief of Safety, 22nd ARW, McConnell AFB, Kansas
16. Mar 2011 – May 2013, Commander, 384th ARS, McConnell ARB, Kansas (Apr 2012 – May 2012, Commander, 340 EARS, Al Udeid AB, Qatar)
18. May 2013 – May 2015, Commander, Cadet Group 4, Commandant of Cadets, USAFA, Colorado
19. July 2015 – May 2016, Student Air War College, Grand Strategy Seminar, Maxwell AFB, Alabama
20. July 2016 – present, Commander, 14th Operations Group