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Reminder Assistant Editor CHICOPEE The terms "fun" and "military base" may not seem to go together, but Col. Robert Swain Jr., the new wing commander of Westover Air Reserve Base, makes the two terms seem like a natural pair. Swain has been commander at the base since June 8. When asked what it was like being the man in charge of the Chicopee's military base, his first response was "It's a lot of fun." The wing commander was formally introduced to Chicopee officials on Aug. 18 at a luncheon hosted by Mayor Michael Bissonnette at the Chicopee Public Library on Front Street. Swain is Westover's 10th commander. He was born and raised in Charleston, S.C. He earned his bachelor of science degree in management from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1979, finished Squadron Officer School at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama in 1983, earned a master of science in systems management from the Florida Institute of Technology in 1985, completed Air Command and Staff College in 1995, Air War College in 1999 and the COMAFFOR Senior Staff Course in 1997. Swain also holds a place in military history as having the first air-to-air kill in an A-10 Thunderbolt II, when he downed an Iraqi helicopter during Operation Desert Storm. And, although he's had 17 different assignments since 1979, including one in the United Kingdom and one in the Republic of Korea, this is his first assignment in the northeast. "There is a Mason-Dixon line!" the colonel laughed as he talked about his drive to New England from Georgia. Swain's first two and a half months at Westover have been very busy. He starts every day around 6 a.m. by checking e-mails, updating the senior staff and public affairs and makes sure to get updates on deployed soldiers from the 439th Airlift Wing. He also checks the weather, the base's overall safety, gets in some flight training he has more than 14,000 flying hours under his belt and works on setting up the upcoming Great New England Air Show, taking place Sept. 6 and 7. He's also been making time to meet with all the local officials. "I can do good in this position," Swain told Reminder Publications. "The joy of my job is that it's not 9 to 5. You have to have a passion, enjoy what you do and love to serve. There's a lot of things we can do to reach out to help the city and make a strong connection." Swain said his goal while serving as wing commander is to "reinvigorate the folks" both on-base and off. "Our purpose here is to fly the planes and support the president," he said. "What we bring to a fight or a humanitarian effort is tremendous. I want to get the wing doing what it does best and enhance interactions with locals cities. What's good for us is good for the cities and what's good for the cities is good for us." As for the base itself, Swain said, "I think Gen. Farris [Brigadier General Wallace Farris Jr., the commander before Swain, left Westover to take a post at the Pentagon] kept the base in great shape. I'm just trying to keep things straight. I'm a history buff, so I'm looking at the past and the future [of the base] because it has 1940s infrastructure." The people on-base are important to Swain. "They're a great group," he noted. "I want to take care of our tenants, the enlistees who may not make enough money to live off-base like the officers. I care about the folks who need the help the most. Our motto is 'People first, mission always,' and I plan on accomplishing both of those at the same time. "What we do here cannot be replicated anywhere in the world," he added. To learn more about Col. Swain or the Westover Air Reserve Base, visit www.westover.afrc.af.mil. | ||||||
