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455th AEW welcomes new commander

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Evelyn Chavez
  • 455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan --  Brig. Gen. Mark Kelly assumed command of the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing from Brig. Gen. Patrick Malackowski during a change of command ceremony here, July 3, 2014.

General Kelly comes to Bagram from the 345th Fighter Wing at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska where he also commanded the wing.

"I know Gen. Malackowski and he is a great friend, warrior and Airman and there is no other officer I would rather follow," said Kelly. "He loves his Airmen enough to hold them to a high standard and that will not change. I was fortunate enough to be here in 2001 when we started, and I was lucky to return several times, and I wanted to be here with you for this particular chapter."

Kelly is a command pilot with more than 5,300 flying hours, including over 400 combat hours in fighter aircraft.

Maj. Gen. John McMullen, 9th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force-Afghanistan commander presided over the ceremony.

McMullen said that Kelly and Malackowski are more than qualified officers, leaders and Airmen.

"You should feel honored with the time you had with General Malackowski but also that General Kelly is following his footsteps," added McMullen.

He also praised General Malackowski on his accomplishments as a commander.

"Under his leadership you have done a lot to feed the fight. Your wing has launched and recovered over 8,700 missions and 30,000 hours," said McMullen. "The list goes on and on. These are huge accomplishments especially for just one year, and I want to thank you for your dedication and service."

After the guidon was passed, Kelly talked about the importance of the 455th's mission as coalition forces continue to transition over the coming months.

"If it is important it happens here," said Kelly. "You are the proud owners of the Air Force's no fail missions. It is no secret that this next year is absolutely pivotal to the transition from OEF to Resolute Support. Yet the ownership of these no fail missions remains the same."

Kelly has served in the Pacific Air Forces, U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Combat Command. He's led combat missions in support of Operations Deliberate Force, Enduring and Iraqi Freedom.

"It is rare in the military to be assigned exactly where you would like to be," said Kelly. "I was fortunate enough for someone to ask me where I wanted to be... with one word I said Bagram."

The ceremony concluded with Kelly's remarks and the singing of the Air Force song.

"The mission remains incredibly important," added Kelly. "Because it's so important I'll expect a lot of you, because you are so important you should expect a lot of me."