386th EMXG welcomes new commander

Published June 14, 2010
By Tech. Sgt. Lindsey Maurice
386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- The 386th Expeditionary Maintenance Group welcomed its new leader, Col. Ricky Thompson, after he took command of the unit from Col. Andrew Molnar during a change of command ceremony here June 14, 2010 at an undisclosed air base.

Colonel Thompson comes to the 386th EMXG from the Pentagon, where he was the deputy chief, Transportation Initiatives Division, Office of Business Transformation, and chief management officer.

"Ricky, welcome to 'The Rock'," said Col. John R. Gordy II, 386th Air Expeditionary Wing commander, during the ceremony. "You are more than ready to lead these great maintainers and I am certain you will take this group to even higher levels of performance. You are without a doubt the right man for the right fight at the right time and our maintainers are in very good hands."

The 386th EMXG is the focal point for the busiest C-130 combat airlift and EC-130 electronic attack maintenance success in the U.S. Air Forces Central Command. As commander, Colonel Thompson leads approximately 240 Airmen, ensuring wartime power projection capability through enemy engagement, combat support and humanitarian relief in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom and other CENTCOM priorities as tasked.

Prior to his position at the Pentagon, Colonel Thompson commanded at the squadron level three times and he served as a staff officer at Air Mobility Command and for the Under Secretary of the Air Force.

Colonel Thompson enlisted in the Air Force in 1979 and attained the rank of technical sergeant before graduating from Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas in 1988. Colonel Thompson was selected to attend Officer Training School in 1989. Since then, he has held various unit-level maintenance leadership positions in support of KC-135, RC-135, F-15 C/D, and C-130 E/H maintenance generation.

This is the colonel's first time serving as a group commander and it is an opportunity he graciously accepted.

"I would like to thank [Lt. Gen. Mike Hostage, AFCENT commander] and Colonel Gordy for the vote of confidence they afforded me by this opportunity to be a commander of what is truly a world class organization," said Colonel Thompson. "I also want to thank the maintainers of the 386th EMXG for the ceaseless dedication they demonstrate daily giving their all to make our fleet of C-130s available to execute the mission."

"This change of command represents only one of the changes we will witness across the wing this summer and in the next few months," he continued. "But as we look forward, we know that all these changes are inevitable. As the newest commander in the wing, I look forward to working with my fellow group commanders and the squadron commanders as we work together to make 'The Rock' better. As a maintainer, I'm most excited about joining a team of professionals that can be counted on to make the impossible, possible. Thanks again and let's keep em' flying."

As Colonel Molnar stepped down as commander of the 386th EMXG, a position he held since June 15, 2009, he looked back on the goals he set for himself, satisfied in obtaining them all.

"I came here to do three things," he said. "... the first goal was to know the Airmen - to get to know these men and women, [who willingly] and voluntarily [committed] to sacrifice for their nation and the betterment of the world. Next was to encourage these Airmen who already have very fine skill sets and the best training the world can provide to help them grow in that training and to send home better qualified Airmen than we even received - that combat AOR refinement. Finally, to change the way maintainers think. Maintainers are superior folks, Giants in 'The Quarry' (the base's flightline area), who think a lot about maintenance. But I want a maintainer who will think as an operator. [Who wonders] what's on their mind as we're fixing this or working contingency plans. Who thinks like a transporter when we configure the aircraft or have to work loads and timing with [operations folks]. ... [I wanted] to change the way we think and have a little empathy toward our fellow Airmen so we can make better decisions for the good of the wing mission.

"And so I would say, and I hope you would agree with me, that I think we have proven what was once imagined. I look at the bog down fixes - nearly eliminated them last year with the help of our [operations] friends. We created single ramp operations consolidating supply, tool support, NDI, sheet metal and on and on into a single chain of command on one location on the ramp. In doing so, we were able to run the busiest C-130 tactical hub in the Central Command area of operations and yet turned out the best mission effectiveness rate, the best logistics departure reliability rate, and so on. Some people will spend a lifetime wondering if they've made a difference, but not 386th EMXG maintainers."

During the change of command ceremony, Colonel Molnar was awarded the Bronze Star for his actions while serving as the 386th EMXG commander. It was his leadership that enabled the flawless execution of 10,882 airlift sorties and the transport of 33,567 tons of cargo and 238,705 passengers downrange, according to the citation.

"In the last year, the 386th EMXG crushed every C-130 maintenance statistic on their way to delivering the iron that flew all of our Operation Iraqi and Enduring Freedom missions at an unprecedented 98.3 percent mission-effectiveness rate," said Colonel Gordy. "And while Colonel Molnar will never take any of the credit, I assure you that it was his leadership that enabled his unbelievable 'hot and dirty' maintainers to perform so well.

"Let's face it, the weather here in [the desert] is no picnic, throughout much of the year these maintainers work around the clock in 120 degree heat that easily creeps up to 150 degrees out on the tarmac and it's not only the heat, they constantly face sand storms and gusty winds. And they aren't working on new aircraft. Many of these C-130s and EC-130s are around 45 years old. So hot ramp, old airplanes and now you factor in rotating your force in and out every 120 days and you can easily see the challenges that [Colonel Molnar and those maintainers under his command] faced.

"So how did his team deal with these challenges?" Colonel Gordy asked. "As I said, they crushed all the records: 91 percent on-time launch reliability rate, 96 percent quality assurance pass rate, and an 80 percent mission capable rate; with 75 percent as the Air Force standard. And trust me, 80 percent MC rate is outstanding when you look at the age of our fleet."

"And yes, I know you give all the credit to your maintainers on the line," Colonel Gordy told Colonel Molnar. "But I know that it was your love of the mission and your Airmen that made it all possible. But besides being a great leader of maintainers, you are an amazing officer and friend. I'm sure all of us who have had the pleasure to work with you over the last year will never forget the humor you brought to the daily staff meetings and we are all better at talking with our hands thanks to you. From a more personal side Andy, I would like to thank you for simply being a great group commander. You made my tour as a wing commander very easy and for that I am sincerely grateful. You are a great leader of Airmen, a great officer and I am proud to have served alongside of you for the past year."

Colonel Molnar heads to his next assignment at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., where he will be the chief, Policy and Process Division, Office of the Inspector General, Headquarters Air Mobility Command.