Experienced commanders have led 'Mustang Stampede'

  • Published
  • By 51st Fighter Wing
  • History Office
OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea (AFPN) --  The list of commanders for the 51st Fighter Wing and its predecessors includes a wartime hero, Col. Francis Gabreski, and an aviation pioneer, Tuskegee Airman Col. Benjamin O. Davis Jr.  The most recent commanders continue a long line of excellence and leadership in providing persistent, combined air and space power to the Korean pennisula.  

Commanders and Dates Assigned
Brig. Gen. Hugo P. Rush, Aug. 18, 1948
Col. John F. Egan, March 25, 1949
Col. Richard M. Montgomery, April 1, 1949
Col. John W. Weltman, Sept. 19, 1949
Col. Oliver G. Cellini, April 24, 1951
Col. William P. Litton, Nov. 1, 1951 (Crashed Nov. 2, 1951, on mission, missing and presumed dead)
Col. George R. Stanley, Nov. 2, 1951
Col. Francis S. Gabreski, Nov. 6, 1951
Col. John W. Mitchell, June 13, 1952
Col. William C. Clark, May 31, 1953
Col. Ernest H. Beverly, Aug. 9, 1953
Col. William C. Clark, Sept. 11, 1953
Col. Benjamin O. Davis Jr., ca. Dec. 1953
Col. Barton M. Russell, July 2, 1954
Col. Travis Hoover, Aug. 1, 1954
Col. Hilmer C. Nelson, Aug. 9, 1954
Col. Edwin C. Ambrosen, Aug. 16, 1954
Col. John H. Bell, Nov. 15, 1955
Col. Paul E. Hoeper, Feb. 2, 1957
Col. Robert L. Cardenas, May 4, 1957
Col. Walter V. Gresham Jr., July 15, 1957
Col. Elliott H. Reed, Aug. 1, 1957
Col. Walter V. Gresham Jr., Aug. 15, 1957
Col. Lester J. Johnsen, Nov. 22, 1957
Col. William W. Ingenhutt, March 25, 1960
Col. Lester C. Hess, July 24, 1962
Col. Lloyd R. Larson, June 11, 1965
Col. Frank E. Angier, April 8, 1967
Col. John B. Weed, June 13, 1968
Col. Roy D. Carlson, June 30, 1968
Col. Hewitt E. Lovelace Jr., Nov. 1, 1971
Col. John H. Allison, Aug. 1, 1972
Col. Billie J. Norwood, June 7, 1973
Col. Alonzo L. Ferguson, May 1, 1974
Col. Glenn L. Nordin, Sept. 30, 1974
Col. Vernon H. Sandrock, Aug. 12, 1975
Col. Fred B. Hoenniger, June 15, 1977
Col. James T. Boddie Jr., June 18, 1979
Col. John C. Scheidt Jr., May 16, 1980
Col. Eugene Myers, Feb. 20, 1981
Col. Thomas R. Olsen, July 16, 1982
Col. Marcus F. Cooper Jr., May 26, 1983
Col. Barry J. Howard, Oct. 18, 1983
Col. Charles D. Link, July 20, 1984
Col. Henry J. Cochran, Aug.12, 1985
Col. John C. Marshall, June 12, 1987
Col. James J. Winters, June 30, 1989
Col. Thomas R. Case, July 17, 1990
Brig. Gen. Robert G. Jenkins, June 23, 1992
Brig. Gen. Robert H. Foglesong, Jan. 31, 1994
Brig. Gen. Steven R. Polk, Nov. 21, 1995
Brig. Gen. Paul R. Dordal, May 15, 1997
Brig. Gen. Robert R. Dierker, Sept. 15, 1998
Brig. Gen. David E. Clary, May 22, 2000
Brig. Gen. William L. Holland, March 18, 2002
Brig. Gen. Maurice H. Forsyth, Sept. 29, 2003
Brig. Gen. Joseph Reynes Jr., July 8, 2005
Col. Jon A. Norman, June 15, 2007