France assumes top spot at Tyndall // photo gallery, video, video

TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE — Col. Derek C. France assumed command Thursday of the base where he learned to fly F-15s 20 years ago.

“Coming back to Tyndall is kind of like coming home,” France said after the ceremony, standing with his wife, Amanda, before the 325 Fighter Wing’s Flagship.

Airmen had just revealed his name on a panel under the cockpit where his predecessor Col. David Graff’s name had been. France takes over leadership of the world’s largest contingent of F-22 Raptors and the more than 4,000 personnel who fly, maintain and support them.

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Plenty of opportunities and challenges lie ahead, France said.

“We’ve got tightening budgets, continually, as the majority of the military is asked to do more with less as far as resources go,” France said, “so it’s going to take innovation and leadership at the supervisor level to make things happen.”

The ceremony in a hangar at Tyndall Air Force Base was attended by numerous civic leaders, including the mayors of Panama City and Parker and members of the Bay County Chamber of Commerce’s Military Affairs Committee.

France said he looked forward to working with groups in the community, and he said support for military installations in Bay County is well known throughout the military as the “gold standard.”

The Change of Command ceremony itself traces its roots back to antiquity and the Roman army, said Maj. Gen. H.D. Polumbo, commander of the 9th Air Force, who presided over the transfer. Graff passed the flag to Polumbo and said, “I relinquish command.” France took the flag and said, “I assume command.”

Graff, who is retiring, will stay in the area with his family to take a position with the St. Joe Co. He assumed command in November 2012 and led the base through plane crashes, a force reduction and the shutdown of the federal government.

“This is a bittersweet day; this is tough, walking away from something that we love,” Graff said.