By Reporter Staff
Article Launched: 07/01/2008 07:06:24 AM PDT
Col. Mark C. Dillon (right) accepts command of the 60th Air Mobility Wing from Maj. Gen. Winfield W. Scott III, 18th Air Force commander, Scott Air Force Base, Ill., during the 60th AMW change of command ceremony held at Travis Air Force Base. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Kristen Rohrer) Travis Air Force Base welcomed a new base commander Monday in a formal ceremony held on the base flight line.
Col. Steven J. Arquiette, 60th Air Mobility Wing commander, relinquished command to Col. Mark C. Dillon.
Maj. Gen. Winfield W. Scott III, 18th Air Force commander, Scott Air Force Base, Ill., presided over the ceremony, praising both commanders and those assembled to view the ceremony for their ongoing service in the war against terrorism.
Dillon previously served as United States Transportation Command liaison officer to United States Southern command in Miami, Fla., from 2006 to the present.
He is a graduate of Arizona State University and was commissioned in 1984 through Officer Training School.
He began his career as a Space Shuttle systems engineer. A distinguished graduate from undergraduate pilot training, he has extensive operational experience as an evaluator pilot in the C-5 and KC-10.
In the past, Dillon has also commanded the 22nd Airlift Squadron at Travis, the 782nd Expeditionary Airlift Squadron (the first C-5 combat deployment into Afghanistan), the 97th Operations Group at Altus AFB, Okla., and was vice commander of the 97th Air Mobility Wing, Altus AFB, Okla.
He is a command pilot with more than 3,500 flying hours in the C-5, KC-10, T-38, C-17 and KC-135.
Arquiette will now move on to become the Distribution Division chief for the Joint Chiefs of Staff J-4 (Logistics) at the Pentagon.
During the ceremony, he thanked the men and women of Travis for their service, calling his time there "memorable" and expressing pride in having served at the local base.
