AFFTC change of command set for Oct. 5

  • Published
  • By Kenji Thuloweit
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Maj. Gen. David J. Eichhorn will relinquish command of the Air Force Flight Test Center to Brig. Gen. Robert C. Nolan II in a ceremony Oct. 5 here.

The ceremony will take place in Hangar 1600 at 10 a.m. Military will wear the uniform of the day and civilians will wear business attire.

Gen. Donald J. Hoffman, Air Force Materiel Command commander, will preside over the ceremony.

General Nolan comes to Edwards from Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., where he served as director of Standing Joint Force Headquarters, U.S. Northern Command.

He graduated from the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School in 1993.

As AFFTC commander, General Nolan's area of responsibility will include the development, test, and evaluation of manned and unmanned aircraft systems in both experimental and proven aerospace vehicles. He supports the conduct of test and evaluation programs for the Department of Defense, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the U.S. Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps.

General Nolan was commissioned through the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1983. As an operational fighter pilot, he flew the F-4E. He was a nuclear weapons instructor pilot and participated in the operational testing of the GBU-15. As a primary flight instructor, he served as a T-37 flight commander, evaluator and spin pilot. As an experimental test pilot, he conducted flight tests on all models of the F-16 and participated in the initial development of the Joint Direct Attack Munition, Joint Standoff Weapon, and Wind Corrected Munition Dispenser. He also participated in survivability testing for a number of high priority Air Force and joint programs.

He has commanded at the squadron, group and wing levels and accumulated more than 5,300 flight hours in 80 different aircraft.

General Eichhorn will head to his next assignment at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., where he will serve as the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center commander.

In a base-wide message, General Eichhorn said it has been an honor and a privilege to lead the men and women of Flight Test Nation for the past three years and looks ahead to his next assignment.

"In my new job as AFOTEC Commander, I hope to bring renewed balance to the force that binds us all as Patriots fielding the greatest weapons for the greatest nation on the planet," said General Eichhorn. "I'll be back to work with you and my detachments here so this isn't goodbye - it's until we meet again! Be safe!"

After the ceremony there will be a commander's welcome reception in Club Muroc's Alliance Ballroom.