New leader takes over Tinker
With a handoff of a unit flag and a salute Brigadier Gen. Christopher Hill took command of the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex on Monday at a ceremony in front of about 400 Air Force personnel and civilians inside Building 9001 at Tinker Air Force Base.
Hill now leads more than 10,000 Air Force and civilian workers in charge of maintaining a variety of aircraft including the KC-135 tanker, B-1 and B-52 bombers and the E-3 Sentry or AWACS, among others.
Hill comes to Tinker after serving as the director of logistics, engineering and force protection at Joint Base Pearl Harbor in Hickam, Hawaii.
“It’s an understatement for me to say how exciting it is for our family to be here today,” Hill said. “I’m so pumped to be on this stage and talking to you today. It’s hard for me to describe.”
Hill began his Air Force career as a cadet at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he graduated in 1991. Hill has been assigned to posts in Germany, California and Japan, among others. He was promoted to general in June 2016.
The Tinker complex spans 63 buildings and encompasses 8.2 million square feet of industrial floor space. Hill succeeds Brigadier Gen. Tom Miller who heads to Langley Air Force Base in Virginia after three years as commander of the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex.
Lt. Gen. Lee Levy, commander of the Air Force Sustainment Center, Air Material Command, praised both Miller and Hill.
“When a nation bestows the title of commander on you, it entrusts you with the nation’s sons and daughters and their families,” Levy said. “That’s a pretty solemn set of responsibilities and there are not many places in the world where you get that kind of opportunity. But here, Tom (Miller) has had that opportunity, and he’s certainly stepped up and answered the challenge and Chris (Hill) will, as well.”