VIENNA, Ohio – The Reserve Citizen Airmen of the 910th Airlift Wing welcomed back Col. Jeff “VD” Van Dootingh as the unit’s 28th commander during an assumption of command ceremony June 6 at Youngstown Air Reserve Station.
Nearly 17 years of Van Dootingh’s 36-year Air Force career was spent at YARS. He served as the 757th Airlift Squadron C-130H standardization/evaluation navigator from 1991 to 2000, the 910th Operations Group chief of current operations from 2000 to 2005 and deputy commander from 2005 to 2008.
His top two priorities are “to take care of Airmen and their families” and “get after full-spectrum readiness,” he said. “Then third, I want to innovate, innovate, innovate, because budgets are only going to get tighter, and what we are expected to do for our nation is not going to decrease. So we have to figure out how we’re going to do that with tight budgets and perhaps less resources.”
Pictured at top: Col. Jeff Van Dootingh gives remarks at the ceremony. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Christina Russo)