LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. –
Col. Matthew Venzke assumed command of the 1st Maintenance Group in a ceremony April 29 in the 27th Fighter Squadron hangar.
Col. Matt Molloy, 1st Fighter Wing commander, officiated the ceremony, in which Colonel Venzke succeeded Col. George Zaniewski in command of the unit.
The ceremony marked Colonel Zaniewski's final assignment in uniform, as he retired in a separate ceremony later that afternoon, capping a 30-year Air Force career. After providing his remarks, he performed a ceremonial pass in review of the 1 MXG, an honor bestowed upon him by Colonel Molloy.
For Colonel Venzke, assuming command of the 1 MXG is a homecoming, as he served his first Air Force assignment with the Group as the officer in charge of the now-defunct 1st Component Repair Squadron's accessories and propulsion branch.
"When I first drove through the gates of Langley in 1989 and got my first glimpse of that flightline, I was awestruck," he said. "I still have that same feeling today, standing here in front of the world's most formidable instruments of aerospace power. It's awesome."
Colonel Venzke entered the Air Force via Officer Training School in 1989, and has served in aircraft maintenance, munitions and logistics leadership positions in four fighter wings, managed operational logistics and reliability evaluations of a broad spectrum of developmental systems, and deployed several times in support of contingency operations. His most recent assignment was at the Aeronautical Systems Center's Fighters and Bombers Directorate at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, where he served as the F-22 division deputy chief of sustainment.