JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas – Maj. Gen. Tom Wilcox said he is excited to join the team revolutionizing installation and mission support after taking command of the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center July 25 at a ceremony in the Gateway Club here.
“To all the warfighters of AFIMSC, (Marian and I) are honored and humbled to be on your team and look forward to meeting you and getting to know each one of you,” Wilcox said.
"You are the experts at integrating installation and mission support across the Air Force and your knowledge is unmatched. I am excited about identifying additional synergies across the enterprise as we work to provide robust, affordable and innovative options to our Airmen.”
Wilcox replaced Maj. Gen. Brad Spacy who is retiring after 32 years of service.
Gen. Arnold Bunch Jr., commander of Air Force Materiel Command, officiated the ceremony. He said Wilcox would build upon Spacy’s success of fanning innovation and transforming installation and mission support for the Air Force.
“You are getting a great leader, you are getting a servant leader, you are getting a team builder and you are getting a man who is unapologetically himself,” Bunch said.
“He will take this organization to even new heights; he will drive it even more into the future.”
One of six specialized centers assigned to AFMC, AFIMSC provides installation and mission support capabilities to 77 Air Force installations, nine major commands and two direct reporting units with an annual budget of approximately $10 billion.
Over the past few years, AFIMSC has tackled some of the biggest challenges in the Air Force and led the way into a new world of innovation and combat support, Bunch said, stressing that the center plays a vital role in AFMC and Air Force missions.
In the future, Wilcox said the center will be key to achieving national security objectives in defense of our nation.
“Lethality and readiness must be at the core of our efforts as we work to attain national defense strategy objectives in a near-peer environment,” he said.
“A conflict in the future with a near-peer competitor will look radically different then the violent extremist organization operations of the last 30 years. And as (Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein) says, we have from now until go to get ready. It’s our job to make sure our support forces are ready and our bases are operationally resilient and able to produce continuous airpower.”
Wilcox is a career security forces officer who served in a variety of operational assignments – including squadron, group and wing command – during his career. Prior to taking command of AFIMSC, he was the director of operations and communications at Headquarters Air Force Global Strike Command, Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana.