Two Change of Authority ceremonies Sept. 17 for Delaware Air National Guard and 166th Airlift Wing command chief positions
NEW CASTLE, Delaware -- On Saturday morning, Sept. 17, 2011, at 9:30 a.m. there will be a change of authority ceremony for the command chief position for the Delaware Air National Guard, followed by a similar ceremony for the 166th Airlift Wing command chief position.
The state command chief is the senior enlisted advisor to the Assistant Adjutant General for Air, Delaware Air National Guard, and The Adjutant General, Delaware National Guard, and is the most senior enlisted position in the state Air Guard unit.
The wing command chief is the senior enlisted advisor to the wing commander for the entire enlisted force, which is comprised of over 800 Airmen in the 166th Airlift Wing with 1,100 total members.
The three Airmen in the incoming and outgoing positions are residents of Lincoln University, Pa. (southern Chester Co.), Hockessin, Del. (northern New Castle Co.), and Camden, Del. (Kent Co.).
The outgoing state command chief is Chief Master Sgt. Holly Morris, a 33-year veteran of the Delaware Air National Guard. She was appointed state command chief in 2007. She has 34 years of military experience, starting with one year in the active duty Air Force. Chief Morris was born and raised in Wilmington, Del., graduated from Brandywine H.S., and has a B.A. in Human Resource Management from Wilmington College, graduating summa cum laude in 2004. Chief Morris currently resides in Lincoln, Pa.
Her service includes 22 years in the 142nd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, where she became a flight instructor and evaluator, and deployed many times for humanitarian and combat operations in Africa, Germany, Panama and Saudi Arabia. She is a veteran of Operations Just Cause, Desert Shield and Desert Storm. She accrued over 1,600 flying hours during her tenure in the 142nd AES. Following her selection as the Delaware ANG Senior Noncommissioned Officer of the Year for 1997, Chief Morris was selected to represent the ANG on a national level as the Senior Noncommissioned Officer of the Year under the Air National Guard Outstanding Airman of the Year program for 1998, the sole Delaware ANG recipient to receive this distinctive honor. Since 1999 she has been an employee relations specialist, Joint Force Headquarters, Delaware National Guard.
Replacing Chief Morris is the incoming state command chief, Chief Master Sgt. Lynn Davis, a resident of Camden, Del. Chief Davis has served as the wing command chief, 166th Airlift Wing for five years, since Sept. 2006. She enlisted in the Air Force in 1978, serving six years at Dover AFB, and has now served for 26 years in the 166th Airlift Wing, Delaware Air National Guard. She is also the plans superintendent of the 166th Communications Flight, and will continue in that position as she assumes the additional duty of state command chief.
The incoming wing command chief is Chief Master Sgt. Henry Rome, a resident of Hockessin, Del. He is the superintendent of the 166th Component Repair Maintenance Flight of the 166th Maintenance Squadron and a 20-year member of the 166th Airlift Wing. He previously served for 10 years on active duty at Dover Air Force Base, Del. He has deployed numerous times to combat zones in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Chief Rome will continue in his position in the 166th Maintenance Squadron as he assumes the additional duty of wing command chief.
Chief Rome is replacing the outgoing wing command chief, Chief Master Sgt. Lynn Davis, who becomes the state command chief.
166th Airlift Wing Commander Col. Jonathan Groff will preside for the wing command chief change of authority, and Delaware National Guard Assistant Adjutant General for Air Brig. Gen. John Wayne Merritt, and Delaware Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Frank Vavala will preside for the state command chief change of authority.
This release is in the public domain, and any part may be used as written.
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Media contact:
Tech. Sgt. Benjamin Matwey
166th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
Cell 302-593-2126