MOUNTAIN HOME - Since 1972 the 366th Fighter Wing of the U.S. Air Force has been based in Mountain Home. In that time, 29 men have served as wing commander, overseeing the base operations and its personnel.
On Thursday, a new era began as the airmen of Mountain Home Air Force Base welcomed their new commander in a Change of Command Ceremony.
For the last time as wing commander, Col. David Iverson, marching in flanked by Lt. Gen. Mark Nowland and the incoming commander, addressed his airmen at MAFB.
"I'm humbled every time I go out and spend time with you," said Col. Iverson.
For the past two years, Col. Iverson oversaw the 366th Fighter Wing, a 4,200-person Air Combat operation that oversees 59 planes and a $194 million annual budget.
That role now falls to Col. Jefferson O'Donnell, who has served as the vice wing commander for the past nine months, a move that is rare in the Air Force.
"Being the vice commander at the base where you are going to become the wing commander is very unusual," admitted Col. O'Donnell. "In fact, I'm told, in 40 years no one has seen it happen here."
O'Donnell, whose call sign is Rosie, has nearly 400 hours of combat flight time. But his time in Elmore County marks the first time he has served west of the Mississippi... and he, his wife and his kids love it.
"They like to play soccer and play music so I do that with them," said Col. O'Donnell. "We like to travel around and go hiking and fishing, and enjoy the great outdoors. Of course, we took advantage of the winter sports this year."
The geography, O'Donnell says, is also what makes Mountain Home one of the best Air Force training sites in the country. One reason, is because the Air Force owns the land and doesn't have to share it.
Another reason is it's wide open.
"Location-wise there are very few residential areas underneath it," explained Col. O'Donnell. "And so it is pretty much wide open to be able to use it very much like we would in combat."
That's why, Col. O'Donnell says, it wouldn't be far-fetched to have a new squadron move into Mountain Home.
For example, maybe the new state-of-the-art F-35s that trained here just last month. That decision, of course, is out of O'Donnell's hands and will likely take years to complete.
But Col. O'Donnell offered, "We do have a large base and lots of room for it, so if they want to bring 'em here we're happy to have 'em."
Until then Col. O'Donnell will have his hands full just maintaining the mission of the Gunfighters over his two-year tenure.
"What I always remember is that I'm just the commander," said Col. O'Donnell. "I'm serving the Gunfighters and they are the ones who are executing the mission and so I'm humbled and excited for the opportunity to serve the Gunfighters."
Under Col. Iverson's command MHAFB saw numerous upgrades, including to the radar, the aircraft and a $44 million runway repair.
Col. Iverson will now move to a new job at the Pentagon.