Ceremony set for 412th Test Wing Published May 25, 2010 By Kenji Thuloweit 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The 412th Test Wing is scheduled to hold its change of command ceremony at 10 a.m. in Hangar 1600, June 4. Col. Dawn M. Dunlop will assume command of the Air Force's premier test organization from Brig. Gen. William J. Thornton. Colonel Dunlop comes from within 412th TW, she currently serves as vice commander of the Test Wing. She came to Edwards August 2009 from her previous assignment at Headquarters Air Force in Washington D.C. where she served as Chief, Air Force Senate Liaison Division. Before that, Colonel Dunlop served as a Presidentially appointed White House Fellow at the Department of Energy. Colonel Dunlop was commissioned in 1988 as a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy. She is a command pilot with more than 3,300 flying hours, primarily in the F-15C/E, F-22A, T-38 and F-16. She is not a stranger to Edwards, her flying experience includes operational and test assignments in the F-15E and developmental testing of the F-22 Raptor when she served as the operations officer for the F-22 Combined Test Force. In all, Colonel Dunlop has spent nearly seven years at Flight Test Nation. As 412th Test Wing commander, Colonel Dunlop will be responsible for the airframe, propulsion system, avionics, and electronic warfare development, test, and evaluation of the most diverse collection of manned and unmanned aerospace systems collocated at one base. She will also be in charge of specialized flight test training at the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and operation of all Edwards test facilities and ranges. The wing supplies decision-quality data, test results and recommendations that directly influence major aerospace acquisition programs. Brig. Gen. William J. Thornton, who was promoted May 7, will move on to Air Force Materiel Command headquarters at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.