Two years ago, the Seguin family landed at Columbus Air Force Base. In that brief tenure, they’ve left an indelible impression upon the base and the community.
On June 27, Col. Barre Seguin will pass command of the 14th Flying Training Wing to Col. Jim Sears, currently commander of the 20th Operations Group at Shaw Air Force Base near Sumter, S.C.
Seguin will be assigned as Executive Officer for the U.S. Air Force Vice Chief of Staff at Headquarters Air Force at the Pentagon. His duties will include meeting the needs of the vice chief and serving the staff in the flow of information to the vice chief for decisions and guidance.
It will be a learning experience, especially witnessing how the senior leadership works with budget reductions and other issues, Seguin said Saturday afternoon.
Frequent moves are part of the job, with most command tours being only two years. The constant change prevents stagnant leadership and gives commanders a break from what is often a seven-day a week job with “a blistering pace,” he said.
It’s a bittersweet time for Seguin, his wife of 21 years, Nancy Seguin, and their two daughters, Sonia and Marie, but home is where the Air Force assigns them, Seguin said.
“It has been a memorable time to lead Team BLAZE,” Sequin said.
In March, the Base celebrated its 70th anniversary, which was attended by more than 400 airmen and base supporters, including former wing commanders Maj. Gen. Steve Wilson, Col. Tom Quelly and Col. Nick Ardillo.
Since he arrived, the Base has produced 632 pilots and was named the busiest Air Force base in 2010, with more than 400,000 flights. It maintains a fleet of 234 aircraft — more than any other base.
“Serving as the 14th Flying Training Wing Commander has been the most rewarding assignments for me to leave, based on the personal relationships I’ve developed, both with airmen and community supporters, and the tremendous professionalism and competency of our Airmen in accomplishing the mission,” Seguin said. “I am proud and humbled by the many and great accomplishments of Team BLAZE and our broader community over the last two years. I look forward to watching with great pride from afar as CAFB continues to lead the way in our U.S. Air Force. There isn’t a finer nor more supportive community in our Air Force than Columbus, Miss.”
The community has been so supportive that Columbus won the Altus Award last year from the Altus, Okla. Chamber of Commerce’s Military Affairs Committee.
Seguin said Col. Sears and his family will benefit greatly if the community continues to do what it has done for the past 70 years.
“I frequently hear, ‘Whatever you need, colonel,’ from community supporters as a way of letting me know they are willing to do whatever it takes to support our airmen, their families and the mission,” Seguin said. “Offer your friendship and support. That’s what the community offered Nancy and me, and that’s what we will leave here cherishing the most.”
Likewise, Seguin brought his own unique style to the base, CAFB Chief of Public Affairs Sonic Johnson said, adding he admired — and learned from — the example Seguin set as a leader.
A proponent of “servant leadership,” which places service to others above self, Seguin empowered and trusted his commanders to do the jobs for which they were trained, offering help and resources when they asked, Johnson said.
“To serve is one of the greatest acts of an Air Force leader,” he said. “It is the essence of military service.”
Servant leadership also includes skills like treating others as you would wish to be treated, listening, trusting the people you lead and team building.
“Col. Seguin embodies these key concepts,” Johnson said. “His refreshing, selfless, servant leadership style always pushed me to be better and to not let the team down.”
Seguin was commissioned in 1988 and has more than 3,100 flying hours. Prior to his assignment at CAFB, Seguin was the Commander of the 8th Operations Group, 8th Fighter Wing at Kunsan Air Base in Korea.
He is a native of Burlington, Vt.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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