New 314th leader sets pillars for Center of Excellence foundation

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Rochelle Sollars
  • 19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. --  Five pillars will set the foundation for the C-130 Center of Excellence, its new commander said at his change-of-command ceremony Aug. 20.

"Mission--standards--partnerships--innovation--focus," said Col. Mark G. Czelusta, 314th Airlift Wing commander. "Let us continue to keep these five simple words in our minds as the world's C-130 Center of Excellence."

During the ceremony, the 19th Air Force commander let everyone in attendance know that he was leaving them in good hands.

"Colonel Czelusta is a perfect leader for the 314th Airlift Wing with an outstanding career record," said Maj. Gen. Mark S. Solo, 19th Air Force commander. "Colonel Czelusta's extraordinary career has prepared him well for this day and his extensive experience in combat operations makes him the perfect fit to meet the training of tomorrow's warriors."

Colonel Czelusta is excited to lead the nation's premier C-130 training wing.

"You have my good word and solemn promise that I will do everything I can to be the commander this wing and its Airmen deserve," Colonel Czelusta told General Solo at the ceremony.

After taking command of the 314th AW, Colonel Czelusta addressed the community dignitaries in attendance.

"The 314th Airlift Wing and Team Little Rock are the envy of the Air Force when it comes to community involvement and support," he said. "This was obvious when I was here as a copilot trainee in 1995, as a squadron commander in 2005, and not surprisingly, it hasn't changed a bit."

Colonel Czelusta now leads a team of approximately 1,200 military and civilian professionals who form the C-130 "Center of Excellence" for tactical airlift. The wing trains C-130 aircrew members from across the Department of Defense, Coast Guard and 38 nations, as well as C-21 aircrews through the 45th Airlift Squadron at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss.

"As we press on and grow from where we are today, I expect that we will continue to be guided by a few key principles. In fact, they're the same ones that make Combat Airlift the warfighter's capability of choice," said Colonel Czelusta. "The first is a mission that we own and take personally. The second are standards that are unapologetically high. Third, we know that our mission is both pointless and impossible without partnerships. And while it's partnerships within our wing, across Team Little Rock, and through the Total Force that make the mission possible, it's through an attentive and responsive ear to our joint and global customers that we will be worthwhile. Fourth, we will continue to be innovative ... and for the better. And finally, we have the good sense to focus on what matters, and to leave behind the distracters."

The former commander of the 463rd Operations Support Squadron, assigned to the base in 2005, has returned to "The Rock" for the third time during his career to command the largest C-130 training wing in the Air Force.

Col. Charles K. Hyde, the wing's previous commander, received the Legion of Merit during the ceremony and is now assigned to Randolph Air Force Base, Texas.

The 314th AW works in concert with the 19th Airlift Wing, 189th Airlift Wing and U.S. Air Force Weapons School in all aspects of C-130 training.