Ops group commander in charge of pilot training at Columbus AFB
fired
Col. Derek Stuart was removed from command of the
14th Operations Group at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi on Jan. 2 after
the commander of the 19th Air Force lost faith in his ability to lead. The group
he commanded oversaw specialized undergraduate pilot training at Columbus. (Air
Force)
The commander of an operations group that handles specialized
pilot training at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi was removed from his
position last week.
Col. Derek Stuart, who had commanded the 14th
Operations Group, was fired Jan. 2 by 19th Air Force commander Maj. Gen. Craig
Wills "due to a loss of trust and confidence in his ability to command," Air
Education and Training Command said in an email Tuesday.
AETC spokeswoman
Marilyn Holliday said in the email that Lt. Col. William McElhinney has assumed
command of the group.
The 14th Operations Group is the flying component
of the 14th Flying Training Wing at Columbus. Its members are part of nine
squadrons, and are responsible for the 52-week specialized undergraduate pilot
training mission at Columbus, Holliday said. The group also performs quality
assurance for contract aircraft maintenance.
The Air Force launched the
Pilot Training Next initiative in April to try to find a new, cutting-edge way
to teach airmen, using advanced biometrics, artificial intelligence and virtual
reality systems.
Columbus is one of three bases that conduct specialized
undergraduate pilot training, alongside Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas and
Vance Air Force Base in Oklahoma.
After the academic and primary flying
phases of specialized pilot training, during which student pilots learn basic
flying fundamentals, they are selected for one of three advanced training
tracks: Airlift and tankers, fighters, or bombers. Aspiring airlift and tanker
pilots go on to train in the T-1 Jayhawk, and students slated for fighter or
bomber assignments train in the T-38 Talon.
Stuart had been commander of
the operations group since July 2018. He entered the Air Force in 1996,
according to his official biography, and is a command pilot with more than 3,200
hours flying the C-17, C-141, T-6 and T-37. He has served as an instructor pilot
and flown combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Holliday said Stuart
was not under investigation. She did not respond to a request for comment from
Stuart, or say what caused Wills to lose confidence in Stuart.
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