Maj. Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski on Feb. 12 became the new commander of the Air Force Research Lab during a change-of-command ceremony at the National Museum of the United States Air Force on the grounds of Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. She replaced Maj. Gen. Curtis Bedke, who led AFRL since October 2007 and is formally retiring from the Air Force on April 1 after more than 30 years of service. “Our Air Force in 2010 depends upon scientific breakthroughs,” said Pawlikowski during the ceremony. AFRL’s mission, she continued, is to nurture the curiosity that leads to them. “The hunt is on,” she said. Pawlikowski spent nearly two years in the early 1990s at AFRL’s information branch in Rome, N.Y., and is no stranger to high tech, having led the Airborne Laser program from April 2000 to March 2005. (Wright-Patterson report by Mike Wallace)
The 301st Fighter Wing in Fort Worth, Texas, became the first standalone Reserve unit in the Air Force to get its own F-35s, welcoming the first fighter Nov. 5.