MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. -- The 22nd Air Refueling Wing hosted a change of command ceremony where Col. Cory Damon, outgoing 22nd ARW commander, relinquished command to Col. Joe Wall, July 28.
Damon leaves the 22nd ARW after two years of leading 3,500 Airmen at one of the Air Force’s premier tanker wings. During his command, the 22nd ARW continued to operate both the KC-46A Pegasus tanker and the KC-135R Stratotanker, providing the nation with worldwide air refueling, airlift and aeromedical evacuation capabilities, enabling Rapid Global Mobility to meet the nation’s needs. The 22nd ARW also continued advancing the operational capability and knowledge base of the KC-46, including flying the world’s first 45-hour nonstop KC-46 flight around the world in 2024, which was also a combat mission and further refining the execution of Maximum Endurance Operations.
After Monday’s change of command ceremony, Damon moves on to a position at the Pentagon to be the Military Deputy Director, Secretary of the Air Force Studies and Analysis Directorate, after Wall assumes command of the 22nd ARW.
Wall comes to McConnell from Royal Air Force Mildenhall, United Kingdom, where he was deputy commander of the 100th Air Refueling Wing.
He is a 2000 graduate of the University of Miami and began his flying career in the KC-10, with stops at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. He is an Olmsted Scholar with three master's degrees, and has served in a range of roles from flying assignments, squadron command, a tour with the Air Force Senate Legislative Liaison Office, and time with the Joint Staff. Wall now comes to McConnell as a command pilot with more than 3,000 flying hours, including 800 combat and combat support hours, primarily in KC-10s and KC-135s.
Maj. Gen. Charles D. Bolton, Eighteenth Air Force commander, was the presiding official for the ceremony.