The military wing that runs Scott Air Force Base said goodbye to its now former leader and tapped a new one at a Friday ceremony.
After serving as the commander of the 375th Air Mobility Wing for the past two years, Col. Chris Robinson will move to the Pentagon to run the Air Force’s budget, as part of regular military reassignments.
Robinson oversaw the Metro East base that employs roughly 13,000 people during a period of firsts, including the evacuation of Afghan civilians when the U.S. military pulled out of the country, among many others.
“We excelled through three once-in-a-lifetime challenges: a pandemic, the largest air evacuation in history and the largest land war in Europe since World War II,” Robinson said during a speech Friday. “Airmen from Scott were on the frontlines of each of these.”
Robinson will be succeeded by Col. John Poole, who comes to Scott from Dyess Air Force Base just outside Abilene, Texas, in the central part of the state.
“I’m honored to work for you and your families,” Poole said during his speech. “I hope to prove myself showcase worthy as I lead you.”
Poole’s new responsibility will involve leading the wing that runs the daily operations at the base housing U.S. Transportation Command, one of 11 unified combatant commands of the country’s military.
The Metro East base supports TRANSCOM’s Air Force and Army components — Air Mobility Command and Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, respectively.
Poole will return to Scott after two previous stints at the base. He served from June 2017 to July 2018 in Air Mobility Command’s chief commander’s action group. From July 2011 to July 2012, he worked with the Eighteenth Air Force, the transportation group that reports to Air Mobility Command.
“It’s exciting to be home in a place where our oldest started kindergarten and is now going to graduate from high school — where our youngest took his first steps over in a house in Shiloh West,” Poole said.
Like Poole, Robinson had multiple stops in the Metro East. Before leading the 375th, he served in two Air Mobility Command roles consecutively from June 2014 to June 2017. After a year, he returned to run a division of U.S. Transportation Command from March 2018 to July 2019.
Robinson said he was also proud of Scott officials overseeing the former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's high-stakes trip to Taiwan last summer and bringing back the base’s air show after a five-year hiatus.
He left his subordinates with a message: continue their work to become combat ready, a priority from the Department of Defense for all military bases.
“Knives will dull if they're used but not resharpened. Silver will tarnish if it isn't polished,” Robinson said. “I ask that you all continue to hone your craft, invest in your education and forge the airmen in this Air Force that our nation needs us to be.”
