Commander bids 46th Test Wing fond farewell

  • Published
  • By Leslie Brown
  • Team Eglin Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  The experimental test pilot community is an elite group and less than a quarter of one percent of Air Force officers ever become a member, and Col. Gary Plumb is a proud to be a part of and command many of the chosen few. 

With 31 years of experience in the Air Force, 27 of them on active duty and four as a cadet at the Air Force Academy, Colonel Plumb knows Air Force missions, especially test missions. As the 46th Test Wing commander, Colonel Plumb knows the challenges associated with test missions and running a test wing. 

"It's a complex wing with a broad span of missions," said Col. Gary Plumb as he described the wing he has commanded for more than two years. The 46th manages 26 modified test aircraft; 185,500 square miles of land and water test ranges, plus facilities in six different states. 

With more than 4,200 military, civilian, and contractor personnel, the wing's primary mission is developmental testing and evaluation of conventional munitions, command and control systems, egress systems, and navigation and guidance systems.
Colonel Plumb didn't let the complexity of the unit get in the way of making his time here the highlight of his career. 

"The Eglin area is an incredible place to work and live," he said. "The community is outstanding and the 46th is full of smart, motivated people. Sometimes it was challenging pulling them back." 

Before becoming the commander of the wing, he also flew experimental test missions in the F-16 and F-4 while assigned to the 39th Flight Test Squadron, as well as running the 46th Operations Group here. 

Colonel Plumb feels he is leaving the wing a better place through the use of management programs such as Theory of Constraints and Design of Experiment using statistically-based approaches. 

"The wing is more efficient," he said. "Reducing the amount of thrash while increasing the quality of life for our people, that makes us successful." 

The fall fish fry out at Okaloosa Island and the spring luau are memorable events for him and the wing. 

"Members of the wing always look forward to these annual events. They provide better team-building opportunities for our people through the planning and execution of the event," he said. "Senior (Air Force) leaders always talk about maintaining high morale because they know high morale leads to a high performing unit." 

He said he enjoyed watching the transformation of Eglin during his time here and being an integral part of that transition. 

"Preparing for the arrival of the Joint Strike Fighter and incorporating it into the range and airspace has been challenging," Colonel Plumb said as he talked of the complexities of working the Department of Defense's newest fighter aircraft into the Eglin mission. "The 46th Test Wing is ready." 

An early highlight in Colonel Plumb's career was earning his wings and graduating number one in his pilot instructor training class. He flew the F-16 while assigned to the 496th Fighter Squadron in Hahn Air Base, Germany. 

"I flew F-16s in Germany before the wall came down," he said. "When I left Germany to attend test pilot school, the wall was down. I felt like it was 'mission accomplished' at that point." 

It was while he was departing Germany for test pilot training in 1990 that Iraq invaded Kuwait to kick off Desert Shield and Desert Storm. 

"Probably the major disappointment of my career was not being able to fly in Desert Storm," he said. But he knew the importance of becoming an experimental test pilot and the capability he could provide the Air Force. 

"I was part of the initial development of the F-22 at Edwards. Being part of a major aircraft initial development is rare. Only a few pilots ever get the chance to be involved in the ground work of something like this," he said. "I got to fly ships one through four." 

But Colonel Plumb feels his successful career has been all because of his family. They have been with him every step of the way while he logged 3,966 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft. 

"It's been a family experience," he said as he talked about his immediate family, but it's also about his Air Force family. "They are fantastic people who love what they do...this is the best job in the world."