Former Doctors Without Borders physician takes command of 71st Medical Group Published June 16, 2020 By Sandra Hernandez 71st Flying Training Wing Public Affairs VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. – Col. (Dr.) Lidia Ilcus assumed command of the 71st Medical Group during a ceremony held June 8 in the Greven Crosswinds Club. Col. Anthony Waldroup relinquished command of the unit. The ceremony was officiated by Col. Corey Simmons, the 71st Flying Training Wing commander. Because attendance was limited, the ceremony was livestreamed to the “Vance Air Force Base” Facebook page. Ilcus comes to Vance from Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, where she served as the Chief of Aerospace Medicine Division. Before joining Air Force after 9/11, Ilcus was a field physician for Doctors Without Borders. She had also worked as an assistant professor in Internal Medicine/Critical Care, as well as medical director of a primary care clinic that she helped start in Harris County, Texas. As an Air Force operational senior flight surgeon, Ilcus has supported contingency aeromedical staging facility operations, casualty evacuation, base medical operations and aeromedical evacuation. She deployed five times, including to Iraq and Afghanistan, in support of operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, logging over 250 military flight hours in 16 types of aircraft. Her flight hours include 59 combat flying hours and 22 combat support hours. The 71st MDG is responsible for providing health care and preventive health services for the Vance AFB community.