LAYTON — Col. Wayne Conroy calls taking command of Hill Air Force Base's 419th Fighter Wing fulfillment of a dream he has had for years.
However, Conroy also realizes he is at the helm of a 1,400-member reservist wing with a fleet of 15 F-16s during wartime.
"At the present time, no, we don't have any immediate deployments," Conroy said after the change-of-command ceremony over the weekend. "It could happen."
Sunday afternoon, Conroy, who has been a member of the Air Force Reserve since 1979, assumed command of the fighter wing from Brig. Gen F.C. Williams, who left to become the mobilization assistant to the 12th Air Force Commander at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona.
Conroy told units they will train to go to war. "We will get ready for these events in such a fashion that when we are called, it'll be just another day for the 419th," he said.
Throughout the next year, Conroy also plans to make a structural change within the wing, as ordered by the Pentagon. Reservists who maintain F-16s, part of the 419th Operations Group with pilots and other support personnel, will soon become their own group. Creating a separate group is supposed to help the Operations Group better focus on bombing without having to be responsible for logistics and upkeep of the aircraft. The change will begin Oct. 1, said Maj. James Wilson of the wing's public affairs office.
Several units of the 419th Fighter Wing have been deployed to the Middle East since 1999, when Williams was commander.
They participated in Operation Northern Watch and Operation Southern Watch, enforcing Iraq's no-fly zones. After Sept. 11, 2001, units were among the first to arrive in northern Afghanistan. Civil engineering and security forces units remain in the Middle East for Operation Enduring Freedom.
"We were able to do that because we were ready. We had trained hard," Williams said.
"Freedom is never cheap. Freedom is never easy, and there are tremendous sacrifices," said Maj. General David Tanzi of the 10th Air Force in Fort Worth, Texas, over all F-16 units in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.
Tanzi told units their main objectives were getting the bombs on target and being combat-ready.
"Under Col. Conroy, you will probably be asked to do more under this war on terrorism," he said.
E-MAIL: lhancock@desnews.com