F-16 Fighting Falcon News

May 6, 2006 (by Lieven Dewitte) - Col. Noel Jones will become Luke Air Force Base's new commander June 13, when he takes over the 56th Fighter Wing from Brigadier General Robin Rand.
"It's an honor to have been chosen as the next 56th Fighter Wing commander. The wing and surrounding communities enjoy a well-deserved national reputation for how to do things right, and I intend to build upon and continue that success."

Jones, a brigadier general select, is the inspector general for Headquarters Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base, Va. Prior to that, he served as the commander of Squadron Officer College at Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.

As commander of the 56th Fighter Wing, Jones will oversee more than 7,300 military and civilian employees of the base, be responsible for more than 185 F-16 fighter/bomber jets, Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field and the Air Force portion of the 1.7 million-acre Barry M. Goldwater Range.

Jones is a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate and holds master's degrees in aviation science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and in national security and strategic studies from the Naval War College.

He is also a command pilot with more than 3,500 flying hours, including combat sorties over Iraq in Operation Southern Watch, Operation Desert Fox and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He has commanded at the flight, squadron, group and wing level.

Rand, the current commander, will be transferred to Balad, Iraq, to become commander of Air Combat Command's 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing. He took command of Luke Air Force Base on June 8, 2004.