Gen. Halter's replacement named

Brig. Gen. Irving L. Halter's tour as commander of the 366th Wing at Mountain Home AFB will come to an end in January, when he will head to duties in the Pentagon and be replaced by Col. Blair Hansen.

Col. Hansen is currently at the Pentagon, headquarters of the U.S. Air Force, as the chief of the Combat Forces Division with the Directorate of Programs.

He will be returning to Mountain Home AFB for the third time. From June to December of 1981 he had received F-111 combat training here, and was flight commander/fighter weapons instructor pilot/flight examiner for the 391st Tactical Fighter Squadron at Mountain Home AFB from December 1985 to July 1989.

Halter will move to a new assignment as the deputy director for National Systems Operations on the Joint Staff, deputy director for the Defense Space Reconnaissance Program, and deputy director of Military Support for the National Reconnaissance Office, which provides space-based assets to the Department of Defense and the CIA.

"We knew this would happen sometime this year due to the assignment timings of senior leadership within the Air Force," said Gen. Halter.

"Knowing that I would move in 2003 still doesn't make it easier to leave a base that has a critical mission as America's Air Expeditionary Wing and such strong community support. My wife, Judy, and I will miss everyone we have come to consider our friends here."

The change of command is expected in early January.

During his tour of duty, Halter saw his units play a starring role in the air campaign in the war in Afghanistan. He also took command as the Air Component Coordination Element, serving in the Mideast during part of the war, where he pinned on his first star.

Mountain Home AFB rates a one-star general as commander of the wing, but often those who take over the wing have not been promoted to that rank at the time they take command.

Col. Hansen has not, yet, been nominated for his first star. Hansen, currently the chief of Combat Forces Division, Directorate of Programs, Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Programs (a post he has held since July of last year), is a command pilot with more than 3,300 flying hours in fighter aircraft, including over 100 combat missions. He has flown the F-111 and F-15.

Raised in Independence, Mo., he graduated in 1972 from Harry S. Truman High School. Graduating in 1977 from the University of Missouri, he entered the Air Force in 1979, receiving his commission from Officer Training School in 1980. He received a master's degree in management from Troy State University in 1985.

A Fighter Weapons School graduate, his flying assignments have included fighter squadron and operations group command in several locations in the United States and abroad. His other staff assignments include the US/ROK Combined Forces Command in Seoul, South Korea, and readiness assessment duties in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

He is married to the former Sugin Yo, of Seoul, South Korea. They have two daughters, Gina, 8, and Cheryl Ann, 5. His son, John, is a senior at the University of Missouri-Rolla.

He is a Distinguished Graduate of the Squadron Officer School at Maxwell AFB, and holds a Master of Science in Management from Troy State University, and a Master of Science in National Security Strategy from the National War College.

His awards include the: Defense Superior Service Medal; Defense Meritorious Service Medal; Meritorious Service medal(with oak leaf cluster); Air Medal (with three oak leaf clusters); Aerial Achievement Medal (with three oak leaf clusters), and the Combat Readiness Medal (with three oak leaf clusters).

He was promoted to full colonel in May of 1999.