TOP STORY > >Team Little Rock welcomes new 314 AW/CV

By Staff Sgt. Nestor Cruz
19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

The 314th Airlift Wing is in the business of training world-class

C-130 crew members and maintainers, and according to the wing’s new vice commander, business is good.

Col. Kirk Lear, 314 AW vice commander, said Little Rock Airmen are light years ahead in terms of getting the critical C-130 Combat Airlift mission accomplished.

“We are so much better as a force at deploying, redeploying, scheduling our people and taking care of families,” said Colonel Lear. “What we do here is absolutely vital. We make the very best C-130 crew members and maintainers.”

This is Colonel Lear’s second assignment here, so he is familiar and excited to be part of the Little Rock Air Force Base Combat Airlift legacy.

“I’ve heard the term ‘Team Little Rock’ throughout my 21-plus years in the C-130 community,” said Colonel Lear, who served at Little Rock 11 years ago as a flight commander on the Air Mobility Command side when the base was under Air Education and Training Command. “Whatever patch this wing is wearing, whether it’s AMC or Air Combat Command or AETC, operational missions and people are deployed from here flawlessly and training is accomplished here flawlessly.”

As the new vice commander, Colonel Lear is the second in command of the largest training fleet of C-130s in the world. The wing’s mission is to train C-130 aircrews for all services in the Department of Defense, Coast Guard and 31 allied nations, as well as C-21 aircrew through the 45th Airlift Squadron at Keesler AFB, Miss. He assists the commander in formulation and direction of command policies and procedures and supervises and coordinates activities of the wing staff.

“My goals are the goals and vision of [Col. C.K. Hyde, 314 AW commander],” he said. “As it’s always been here, we have an organization that is producing the best possible training for crew members who will fly our C-130s. We are the folks who are preparing these young men and women to fly C-130s in combat and the training we give them will be the things they fall back on in those very hairy moments you occasionally see in combat.

“If I don’t train them well, I’m not only endangering them as crew members, but I’m also endangering the lives of the passengers they might have,” Colonel Lear added.

The vice wing commander said Team Little Rock is thriving considering the challenges with housing three distinct wings.

”I don’t see challenges so much with having three wings here because people get it … they get the ‘Team Little Rock’ concept and what the base and its people are all about,” said Colonel Lear. “They are all contributing to the same effort. I think any challenges faced by this base are the same challenges facedby the rest of our Air Force, such as manning in certain Air Force Specialty Code career fields and the current operations tempo.”

Colonel Lear said he is glad to be back at the first base he was assigned to as a “family.”

“This was the first place we were really a family, so my wife and I feel like we’ve come home,” the vice wing commander said.

“My son was six weeks old when we first moved here and my daughter was born here, too. We were very involved with the community and we absolutely loved it here.

“I like the people, the culture and the patriotism of the average Arkansan so I consider myself really fortunate to be in Arkansas and serving in this capacity,” Colonel Lear said.

The colonel is looking forward to meeting Little Rock Airmen and a few old friends.

“So many of my friends retired here and I’ve been good friends with Colonel Greg Otey for 20 years,” said Colonel Lear.

Colonel Lear said he is honored to become Colonel Hyde’s vice wing commander and a vital member in the Team Little Rock leadership.

“It’s my role [as the 314th AW vice wing commander] to execute the commander’s vision,” he said. “Anything that we have as a vision would be tied to making the best possible crew members for the worldwide C-130 career force.”