Change of command for 349th ARS

  • Published
  • By Capt. Brus Vidal
  • 22nd ARW Public Affairs
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. --  The 349th Air Refueling Squadron welcomed a new boss during a change-of-command ceremony at the red carpet in front of base operations, Bldg. 1112, here Sept. 29. 

Lt. Col. David DuHadway assumed command, succeeding Lt. Col. Timothy Sipes, in a ceremony presided over by Colonel Raymond LaMarche, 22nd Operations Group commander. 

Colonel Sipes moves on from McConnell to serve as deputy commander, 375th Operations Group at Scott Air Force Base, Ill. 

While the mantle of command is new for Colonel DuHadway, he is a familiar face here. Prior to assuming command, he served as Operations Officer, 22nd Operations Support Squadron, since June 2005. 

A 1989 graduate of the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Ind., Colonel DuHadway was commissioned through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program there and earned a bachelor's in electrical engineering. He holds a master of engineering in computer engineering from the University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, and a master of air mobility/transportation management from the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio. He is also a graduate of Squadron Officer School and completed Air Command and Staff College and Air War College by correspondence. 

He is a senior pilot with more than 2,500 flying hours in the KC-135R and R/T, C-141B, RQ-1A, and T-38A aircraft. Colonel DuHadway's deployment experience includes two tours supporting Operation ALLIED FORCE and various deployments flying worldwide missions in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. 

After taking command at the ceremony, Colonel DuHadway expressed his excitement about his new command while praising the leadership of Colonel Sipes then addressed his new squadron. 

"To the men and women of the 349th Air Refueling Squadron, I'm very humble to be selected as your commander," he said. "For my part I pledge the 349th will be positive, proactive and professional in all that we do. We are going to continue to fly and fight and do our part in the Global War on Terror. You all have proven today through results of the (air crew standardization and evaluation visit) you are the best and I'm going to do what I can to keep it that way."