Third Alaska assignment for 3rd Wing commander

by Air Force 2nd Lt. Michael Trent Harrington
JBER Public Affairs

8/29/2014 - JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- "The 3rd Wing is a certain thing in an uncertain world," Air Force Col. Charles Corcoran said on a gray and rainy morning at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

Corcoran assumed command of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson's 3rd Wing, the largest unit in the 11th Air Force, in a ceremony at Hangar 1 Monday. Corcoran arrives after a deployed tour as the chief of staff of Air Force Central Command in Qatar.

The outgoing commander, Air Force Col. David Nahom, departs as a newly-promoted brigadier general to serve as the director of Regional Affairs with the Deputy Undersecretary of the Air Force for International Affairs at the Pentagon.

Corcoran is already something of an Anchorage expert. Corcoran's role as head of the 3rd Wing marks his third assignment to JBER and his second as a commander. In the late 1990s, he served as a weapons officer for the 19th Fighter Squadron, flying F-15 Eagles before the unit moved to Hawaii. He returned from 2007 to 2009 as commander of the 525th Fighter Squadron.

Air Force Lt. Gen. Russell Handy, Alaskan Command and 11th Air Force commander, spoke on the process of identifying five or six Air Force men and women to assume one of the most important commands in the Pacific.

"I tried. I tried really hard to come up with that list," Handy said. "And no matter how many ways I looked at it I kept coming up with only one choice: (Col.) Corcoran."

The 3rd Wing represents one of the most diverse and strategic commands in the Air Force - with the F-22 Raptor, C-17 Globemaster III, C-12 Huron, and E-3 Sentry aircraft, as well as partnership with Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve components.

Corcoran will be charged with running "top cover for America" - responsible to North American Aerospace Defense Command, the Pacific Air Forces and the 11th Air Force for early warning, detection and interception of unidentified aircraft.

Corcoran takes the reins of the 3rd Wing at a busy time. The wing's two F-22 fighter squadrons will attend major training exercises in Hawaii and Guam next month, and both F-16 Fighting Falcons and Navy F/A-18C Hornets are slated to participate in dissimilar air combat training here in coming weeks.

Likewise, attention to 3rd Wing's NORAD "alert" role surged briefly earlier this month as media outlets sought to link ongoing tension and armed confrontations between Ukraine and Russia. North American Air Defense officials confirmed that both foreign flights and American intercepts in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone are a legal and routine part of business for U.S. pilots. It is the same everyday sense of JBER's attention to excellence, improvement and readiness, which Corcoran says has drawn him back to 3rd Wing.

"The enthusiasm, the pride and the initiative I see in the Airmen and their families around JBER is phenomenal," Corcoran said. "I want to keep that going."

As the 3rd Wing moves forward with the challenges of ongoing military missions abroad and fluid budgetary situations at home, third-time Anchorage veteran Corcoran seems well poised to understand precisely what 3rd Wing's arctic warriors need.

"I'm honored to once again be a part of this amazing team," Corcoran said. "I'll do all I can to ensure the 3rd Wing has the resources it needs to continue its legacy of excellence."