Col. Charles "Chip" Brown Jr. stood, smiling, in front of several hundred people at Little Rock Air Force Base on Wednesday as he received his first salute as commander of the base's primary unit.
In a change-of-command ceremony, outgoing 19th Airlift Wing commander Col. Patrick Rhatigan handed Brown control of the U.S. Air Force's largest fleet of C-130s and responsibility for the installation's approximately 9,000 airmen and 1,400 civilian employees.
The wing, nicknamed the "Black Knights," is the host unit at the Jacksonville base, which also houses Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units as well as the active-duty C-130 "Super Hercules" training center.
Currently, more than 500 Little Rock Air Force Base airmen are deployed around the world.
Brown is returning to the base for the third time. He received instruction at the base in 1998 to become a C-130 navigator, and he commanded the base's 62nd Airlift Squadron from 2009 to 2011.
His most recent assignment was as an adviser to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon.
"Chip knows this ZIP code," said Lt. Gen. Carlton Everhart II, commander of the 18th Air Force and the ceremony's presiding officer.
On Wednesday, against an American flag backdrop in one of the base's hangars, Everhart took the 19th Airlift Wing guidon, a small flag, from Rhatigan and passed it to Brown, as airmen, state and local officials, and Rhatigan's and Brown's families and friends watched.
"It's my honor to be back at Little Rock Air Force Base, the true home of combat airlift," Brown told the crowd.
Rhatigan will officially retire on May 31 after a total 24 years in the Air Force. He served as commander of the 19th Airlift Wing for nearly two years.
Rhatigan said he and his wife, Karen, plan to focus their time on their four young children.
"This is a bittersweet day for the Rhatigan family as we say goodbye," he said.
During the ceremony, Rhatigan received the Legion of Merit, which is awarded to those who "have distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services," as an Air Force description reads.
According to a citation read by the ceremony's emcee, Rhatigan's "excellence, vision and ceaseless efforts" led to the base's ability to train and employ the "world's best" C-130 combat airlift.
Rhatigan's tenure at the base included launching more than 5,000 missions and changing from flying the C-130H, or "Hercules," to the newer C-130 J-model.
At any given time in the past two years, about 400 19th Airlift Wing airmen and 11 C-130s were deployed at operations around the world.
"The combat airlift mission is difficult, diverse and dangerous," Rhatigan said to his airmen. "Whenever our nation needs combat airlift, you answered the call and served with distinction."
In his speech, Rhatigan listed off some of the big events that occurred at the installation since his arrival, including the government shutdown in 2013, Air Force downsizing, a base lockdown and the completion of large construction projects.
Base airmen oversaw the Federal Emergency Management Agency's arrival after an EF4 tornado hit Vilonia and Mayflower in April 2014, and the installation welcomed President Barack Obama soon after.
"Little Rock is no sleepy hollow," Rhatigan said. "Despite the external pressure, airmen of the 19th have served with pride."
At the end of Wednesday's ceremony, Rhatigan and Brown stood side by side, singing and clapping along to the Air Force song.
Rhatigan paused and choked up while saying his final goodbye to the airmen he commanded.
"We have been the benefactors of your support," he said. "It's one thing to constantly tell your airmen to take care of each other, and it's most certainly something else to be on the receiving end."
"I turn the Black Knights of the 19th Airlift Wing over to Col. Brown, and I thank you all for your service."
Metro on 05/28/2015