LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. –
The 633d Mission Support Group reins of control changed hands during a change of command ceremony July 1 in the 71st Aircraft Maintenance Hangar.
Col. Kenneth J. D'Alfonso took command from Col. J. Kevin Altman, who is retiring after more than 24 years of service.
Presiding over the ceremony, Col. Donald E. Kirkland, the 633d Air Base Wing commander, discussed what Colonel Altman had achieved during his time as commander and thanked him and his family for their hard work.
Under Colonel Altman's command he helped reduce the repair time of the F-22 Raptor from 4 to 1.8 days, this increased the Raptors availability by 21 percent. Under his leadership was able to decrease the repair time of the F-15 Eagle by more than half from 4.4 to 2.1 days. He was also able to successfully posture 150 projects and $73 million in end of year funding.
With a backdrop of an F-15 Eagle, security forces patrol car, fire truck and a 60k loader from the flight line, Colonel D'Alfonso spoke to his Airman for the first time as their commander.
"I'm grateful for the opportunity to take over such an outstanding group," said Colonel D'Alfonso, 633 MSG commander. "We have world class people at a world class base."
"Langley-Eustis is our home and in fact we support everyone that calls Joint Base Langley-Eustis their home," he said. "Whether it expands within the mess lines here ... or our civilian counterparts outside of the gates ... excellence is our goal and it's what we must strive for."
Colonel D'Alfonso is a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate, whom has his masters in business administration and has been a student of the Army War College. Before attending the Army War college he was the Security Forces Deputy Division Chief at Hickam AFB, Hawaii.