Holloman welcomes new commander as 49th Wing shifts to Air Combat Command
Col. Michael Mullin assumed command of Holloman’s 49th Wing as the base shifted from Air Education and Training Command to Air Combat Command.
Col. Michael Mullin assumed command of the 49th Wing during a June 4 ceremony as Holloman moved from Air Education and Training Command to Air Combat Command.
Organ Mountain News report
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE - Holloman Air Force Base welcomed a new commander Thursday, June 4, as the 49th Wing was reassigned from Air Education and Training Command to Air Combat Command.
Col. Michael Mullin assumed command of the 49th Wing from Col. John Ethridge during a ceremony at Holloman. Mullin transferred from the 354th Fighter Wing at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska, where he served as deputy commander.
Mullin previously served at Holloman from January 2018 to April 2019 as director of operations for the 314th Fighter Squadron and commanded the squadron from May 2019 to May 2021.
“Community leaders and partners, Shari and I are thrilled to be back in Alamogordo,” Mullin said. “We look forward to working with each and every one of you over the next two years to make our community and Holloman Air Force Base an amazing place to live and work.”
Mullin is a command pilot with more than 4,000 flight hours, including 580 combat hours in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Resolute Support. He has flown the F-16 Fighting Falcon, T-38 Talon, T-37 Tweet and MQ-9 Reaper.
Holloman is the first of several combat air forces formal training units to be reassigned from AETC to ACC. The move is intended to improve readiness by streamlining the training pipeline for fighter and remotely piloted aircraft units.
Maj. Gen. Steven Behmer, commander of 15th Air Force, welcomed the 49th Wing to 15th Air Force and Air Combat Command.
“Every Airman in the 49th Wing directly enables America’s ability to generate and sustain the most lethal Air Force in the world,” Behmer said. “The 49th Wing is critical to our collective ability to build, sustain, and project combat ready formations.”
Holloman is the Air Force’s largest formal training unit for F-16s and MQ-9s. The 49th Wing trains nearly half of all F-16 pilots in the Air Force and produces about 25% of all fighter pilots in the Air Force.
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