3rd Wing welcomes Niemi as new commander

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Wes Wright
  • Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  Air Force Col. Christopher Niemi became the 3rd Wing commander in a change-of-command ceremony May 20 at Hangar 1 on JBER.

Niemi previously served as the 33d Operations Group commander, 33d Fighter Wing, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

Niemi replaces Air Force Col. Charles Corcoran, who has been the commander since August 2014. Corcoran was recently selected for promotion to brigadier general, and his next assignment is commander of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing at Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates.

Niemi is no stranger to Alaska, having previously served as the 90th Fighter Squadron director of operations from June 2007 to June 2009 and the 525th Fighter Squadron commander from June 2009 to 2011.

"[Coming back to Alaska] is a real honor," Niemi said. "The 4 years my family and I were here from 2007 to 2011 were some of the finest I had in my 22 years in the Air Force. I look forward to leveraging [my prior experience here] and broaden my perspective. Hopefully, I can bring some of the experience I've gleaned over the last five years since then to improve the 3rd Wing and continue to build on the work that's been done by Colonel Corcoran."

Niemi is a command pilot with more than 2,900 flying hours. He has flown the F-15E Strike Eagle, F-22 Raptor and most recently the F-35 Lighting II.

"I consider myself extraordinarily lucky," Niemi said. "I would have been happy to just get to fly the F-15, to be honest. There is a lot of commonality between the F-22 and the F-35. I think it's very important to have some crossflow between those two communities, not just on the operator side but also on the maintainer side. We can leverage lessons so when we solve a particular problem on the F-22, we can apply that knowledge with the F-35 and vice versa."

In April, the Air Force announced that two squadrons of F-35s will be stationed at JBER's sister installation, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, beginning in 2020.

In commanding a wing with diverse mission sets, Niemi set out some priorities he sees as key to maintaining them.

"The 3rd Wing is a very neat wing," Niemi said. It's very busy. We have C-17s flying around the world, moving personnel and cargo. We have F-22s and E-3 Sentries that are protecting the North American airspace, working with the Alaska region of the North American Aerospace Defense Command. We also have Airmen who are forward deployed downrange in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria."

Niemi also said adaptation and change are on the horizon as world threats continue to evolve.

"We need to continue to shift to reflect a changing security environment," Niemi said. "Threats are changing. We need to make sure we are fully prepared to deal with those, so one of things I want to focus on in my time here at the 3rd Wing is to make sure we're as prepared as possible for any future challenges that may be a little bit different than what we've had in the past."

Preparing for evolving challenges, adapting and change are themes Niemi sees as critically important to the future of the 3rd Wing.

"I think the biggest challenge is going to be change," Niemi said. "It's very difficult to change organizations. We need to do it slowly, deliberately and incrementally. In the next couple of years, we'll build on what Colonel Corcoran and his predecessors have been doing."

Maintaining and building on existing relationships are also things the new commander plans to focus on.

"It's clear to me there are some key relationships, both internal and external here at JBER," Niemi said. We have our partners in the reserves and Air National Guard we work with day-to-day and our integrated units--it's very important to have strong relationships there. We have relationships with the Soldiers on Ft. Richardson and a wonderful opportunity to train so we can be better prepared in case we have to deploy in some future conflict together. Externally, the community is very warm. When I was here before, I lived in Eagle River and we had a lot of wonderful community friends. It's particularly important in a democracy to make sure that the citizens of the United States are connected to the military. I look forward to building on that."

The veteran commander said he and his family are looking forward to experiencing the warmth of the Alaska community again.

"I love the ability to get out to the outdoors and do some fishing and hiking," Niemi said. "We are really looking forward to digging into the community and enjoying everything Alaska has to offer."