Col. Christine Littlejohn grew up watching generations of her household service successful the military. Now, arsenic the caller commandant of the 99th Air Base Wing astatine Nellis Air Force Base, Littlejohn said carrying connected that bequest comes with “a value of responsibility” she is arrogant to bear.
“When I see what my grandfathers went done successful World War II, what my begetter went done successful Vietnam, what my brothers went done successful the conflicts of the planetary War connected Terrorism oregon the conflicts successful Bosnia, it conscionable made maine recognize that each procreation is called to basal up for this state and our Constitution,” Littlejohn said successful an interrogation with the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Littlejohn officially assumed command of the helping connected July 17, becoming the archetypal pistillate to pb the portion that is liable for managing, operating and maintaining Nellis.
Nellis officials did not remark further astir Littlejohn’s role, but provided a database of the 16 different officers who person commanded the wing, each of whom were men.
Activated successful October 1995, the 99th Air Base Wing is the big helping for Nellis and provides installation support, information and infrastructure absorption for the base, which serves much than 11,000 progressive work members.
Littlejohn brings implicit 2 decades of subject work to her caller role. Her vocation began successful the Reserve Officer Training Corps programme astatine Oral Roberts University successful Oklahoma.
She said it was this program, not her family’s subject history, that inspired her career. She described the programme arsenic a win-win, offering her a accidental to articulation “an astonishing organization,” portion receiving a assistance and guaranteed employment erstwhile she graduated.
“I gave it a semester afloat intending that it would lone beryllium 1 semester, but they got maine hooked, and I fell successful emotion with it,” she said. “The champion portion astir it was truly getting a accidental to larn astir the military, not from the position of a kid whose parents and household had been successful it, but arsenic a cadet who was learning astir the responsibilities that travel with being an officer.”
After entering the Air Force arsenic a postgraduate of the ROTC programme successful 2003, Littlejohn went connected to service arsenic an airfield operations serviceman astatine aggregate Air Force large aerial commands, moving astatine the helping and office levels.
Throughout her decorated subject career, Littlejohn has completed galore combat deployments including successful enactment of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S.-led warfare successful Afghanistan that began aft the Sept. 11 attacks. Littlejohn was promoted to the presumption of colonel successful September 2023, and she antecedently served arsenic the commandant of the 502nd Installation Support Group astatine Joint Base San Antonio, Texas.
From these experiences, Littlejohn said 1 cardinal thought stands out.
“When I see each of my deployments, they brought antithetic challenges, immoderate of them precise existent and precise dangerous, immoderate of them a small spot calmer, but inactive precise important,” Littlejohn said. “The communal taxable successful our occurrence crossed each azygous situation was teamwork and the mode that airmen would travel unneurotic to fig retired a solution.”
Littlejohn said she intends to transportation that tone of teamwork to the 99th Air Base Wing, wherever she oversees 2 groups and 13 squadrons liable for installation enactment astatine Nellis. Her job, she said, is sometimes referred to arsenic the “mayor of Nellis Air Force Base.”
She said joining the helping was the “highlight” of her vocation due to the fact that Nellis has an “amazing ngo set.”
Under the umbrella of the United States Air Force Warfare Center, Nellis leads respective ample unit exercises each twelvemonth similar Red Flag, which are designed to simulate combat and guarantee work members are prepared earlier they are really deployed.
Littlejohn highlighted the value of galore work members who autumn nether her command, similar information unit defenders who unafraid the base’s perimeter and civilian engineers who prolong the base’s infrastructure.
“I cannot bash thing successful isolation,” Littlejohn said. “None of america can. My occupation present is to marque definite that the men and women of the 99th person the resources they request to get aft the ngo each day.”
In assuming these enactment positions, Littlejohn has taken inspiration from her radical commandant portion she was successful Kirkuk, Iraq. During that deployment, she said thing went “very, precise wrong,” but declined to specify what occurred.
She said she watched her radical commander, present retired Lt. Gen. Richard Scobee, grip the concern with implicit calm and professionalism.
“Watching him bash that has inspired maine implicit the years ever since,” she said. “It is truthful important that a person support calm and objectivity, nary substance what the circumstance, truthful that they tin bring that into their squad and their squad tin instrumentality enactment without added stressors that bash not adhd value.”
Littlejohn replaced Col. Jason Glynn, who assumed bid of the 99th Air Base Wing successful July 2024. According to Littlejohn, Glynn identified readiness arsenic the apical precedence of the wing, which is thing that she hopes to absorption connected arsenic she takes the helm.
She added that she hoped to guarantee that caller officers are trained adjacent amended than she was.
“We request to marque definite that the 99th Air Base Wing Diamondbacks are ever ready, immoderate challenge, immoderate time, immoderate spot that our Warfare Center, our Air Force, oregon our federation needs us,” Littlejohn said, referring to a nickname for the wing’s personnel.
Contact Sophie Baker astatine sbaker@reviewjournal.com.
English (US)·