Second-in-command changes ahead for both base wings
By ELOISE OGDEN, Regional Editor, eogden@minotdailynews.com
POSTED: June 14, 2008
MINOT AIR FORCE BASE – Changes in vice commanders for both the 5th Bomb Wing and the 91st Space Wing are ahead at Minot Air Force Base.
Col. Greg Bell, vice commander of the 5th Bomb Wing, will be leaving in July. He is headed to the NATO/ SHAPE Operations Staff in Belgium, said Maj. Elizabeth Ortiz, chief of Public Affairs at the Minot base.
Bell has been the vice commander of the bomb wing since July 2006.
The new 5th Bomb Wing vice commander will be Col. Steven Basham, who is coming to Minot AFB from the 607th Air Operations Center at Osan Air Base, Korea, Ortiz said.
As the installation’s second-in-command, the bomb wing vice commander is responsible for the health and welfare of about 4,900 active-duty members, 500 civilian employees and 6,000 family members. The vice commander also helps direct operations involving the wing’s B-52 bombers in support of the Air Force’s rapid-response, combat-ready force.
Col. Greg Tims, vice commander of the 91st Space Wing, is headed to Air Force Space Command Headquarters at Peterson AFB, Col. He will be the executive officer for Gen. Robert Kehler, commander of Air Force Space Command, according to Ortiz.
Tims has been vice commander of the 91st Space Wing since June 2007 and before that was commander of the 91st Operations Group. He told members of the Minot Area Chamber of Commerce’s Military Affairs Committee last week that this was his eighth winter in North Dakota. Tims also was assigned to the Minot base in various missile-related positions from August 1986 to October 1992.
The new 91st Space Wing vice commander will be Col. Michael Spencer, Ortiz said. Spencer was formerly assigned to the Joint Staff at the Pentagon as the chief of space policy and the deputy director for strategic plans and policy.
The space wing vice commander turnover is Monday.
The vice commander of the space wing is responsible for the operation, maintenance and security of 150 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles from 15 remote missile alert facilities and six UH-IN helicopters used in support of the missile field activities dispersed over 8,500 square miles of northwest and north-central North Dakota.
Both Bell and Tims told members of the Military Affairs Committee at its meeting June 5 at the base how much they have enjoyed their time at Minot AFB and expressed their appreciation of the support the Minot community has for the base and its people.
Col. Joel Westa is commander of the 5th Bomb Wing. Col. Chris Ayres became commander of the 91st Space Wing last month.
