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36th RQF finds new home with 58th SOG

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Benjamin Stratton
  • 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  The 36th Rescue Flight here held a transfer of authority ceremony June 7, during which Col. William Thomas, 336th Training Group commander, passed responsibility of the 36th RQF to Col. Dagvin Anderson, 58th Operations Group commander, at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.

"I am confident that this transfer of authority will be transparent to the members of the 336th TRG and the 36th RQF as well as the students that we train and support," Thomas said. "The core helicopter support mission to the Air Force Survival School will remain unchanged and the students will realize no degradation in the quality or the content of the training we provide."

Thomas took command of the 336th TRG June 1 during a change of command ceremony. Change of command and transfer of authority ceremonies represent a formal transfer of responsibility from one command or commander to the next.

"We look forward to a continued partnership based on the mutual trust and respect that we've cultivated with the 36th RQF over the last 19 years," said Thomas. "I want to thank you and your team for the outstanding support that your unit has provided to the SERE mission."

Maj. Matthew Johnson, 36th RQF commander said the transfer simply means his boss is at Kirtland instead of here at Fairchild.

"Our mission is still here with the SERE Group," Johnson said. "We support the training that they accomplish here. The change was basically a cost saving measure."

Thomas said this will enable the Air Education and Training Command to continue standard evaluation, training and expertise within a conventional flying wing construct that is resonant in the 58th Special Operations Wing.

"They have served honorably over a diverse range of mission sets keeping faith with their motto, "'That others may live,'" Thomas said. "The 36th RQF has proven itself indispensable to the survival school mission and will continue to do so in the future."