71st LRS, 5th FTS get new commanders

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  • Public Affairs
Vance Air Force Base, Okla. --  Two Vance Air Force Base squadrons welcomed new commanders during change of command ceremonies here Friday.
Maj. Daryl Cunningham accepted command of the 71st Logistics Readiness Squadron and Lt. Col. Gerald Kirchner now leads the 5th Flying Training Squadron.
The 71st LRS ceremony was at 10 a.m. Friday at the Vance Club. As 71st LRS commander, Major Cunningham is responsible for the supply, fuels, transportation, civil engineer and services flights. The squadron also provides mortuary affairs, readiness and mobility assistance and is Vance AFB's liaison to the Defense Commissary Agency and the Army Air Force Exchange Service.
Major Cunningham attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., on a 4-year Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship. Upon graduation, he entered active duty as a second lieutenant in 1991 and was assigned to Strategic Air Command's 410th Bombardment Wing at K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base, Mich., as the logistics plans division assistant chief. Afterward, he held various deputy command and command positions at Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C., Ellsworth AFB, S.D., and Taegu Air Base, Republic of Korea. His major awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, Air Force Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster, Joint Service Achievement Medal and Air Force Achievement Medal.
Major Cunningham replaced Maj. Robin Hill, who will be on the logistics staff at U.S. European Command headquarters at Stuttgart, Germany.
The 5th FTS ceremony was at
2 p.m. Friday in Hangar 170. As 5th Flying Training Squadron commander, Colonel Kirchner reports directly to the Air Force Reserve Command's 340th Flying Training Group at Randolph AFB, Texas, in support of Air Education and Training Command's Joint Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training mission. The peacetime mission of the 5th Flying Training Squadron is to provide a reserve of experienced instructor pilots to augment the AETC instructor pilot cadre in the event of wartime mobilization conditions. The wartime mission provides a ready reserve of qualified instructor pilots for activation to ensure a continued steady state flow in pilot production. The unit currently flies the T-1, T-37, T-6 and T-38 aircraft.
Colonel Kirchner entered the Air Force in 1984 after graduating from Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, and has been assigned at Vance AFB three times before this command assignment. His other assignments here include pilot training in 1988; T-38 instructor pilot, flight commander and assistant operations officer in 1993; and most recently as the 5th FTS chief of training and scheduling in 1998 and as squadron operations officer since June 2004. He is a command pilot with more than 3,000 flight hours in the T-37, T-38, F-4D and F-15A, C and D.
Former 5th FTS commander, Lt. Col. David Clark, remains on base as the 71st Operations Group reserve deputy commander.