Cyber officer commands 720 EABS in Lithuania

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Dana J. Butler
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SIAULIAI AIR BASE, Lithuania --  Five Airmen from the 1st Combat Communications Squadron at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, have been critical to the success of the Baltic Air Policing mission at Šiauliai Air Base, Lithuania. But one communications Airman got more than he expected when he arrived in Lithuania.

Upon arriving to Lithuania, Lt. Col. Lendy Renegar, 48th Air Expeditionary Group commander, appointed 1st Lt. George Maxfield, 1st CBCS cyber officer, as the 720th Expeditionary Air Base Squadron commander.

"It's kind of funny how I first found out, it was pretty informal," said Maxfield. "I saw the commander in passing and he just looked at me and said 'how do you feel about G-series orders in a squadron commander position?' I thought he was joking at first."

While originally thinking he was only going to be in charge of the four communications Airmen underneath him, he was now in charge of 41 Airmen in eight different career fields.

"My first thought was, what does this job even entail," said Maxfield. "I've never heard of a first lieutenant in a squadron commander position, I mean, I'm sure it has happened before but I never thought it would happen to me."

Ironically, according to Maxfield, communication has been one of the more challenging aspects of being a squadron commander.

"As a comm. officer you would think I'd know more about communication, but at this level I think it becomes an issue of organizing information in a way that is easily disseminated to others and that people extract the most important parts that pertain to them and to be organized and keep everybody in the know." said Maxfield.

Maxfield took it upon himself to learn about his Airmen, their different sections and to personally integrate himself into their daily routine.

"Sometimes I'll just roll up to barrier maintenance or security forces and ask to go out with them and see what they do so I can get a better understanding of what they contribute to the BAP mission," said Maxfield. "I just talk to people and try to get to know a little bit more about what they do and get to know them as people."

Nearly three months have passed and Maxfield says he is very happy to have been given an opportunity like this.

"He [Lt. Col. Renegar] didn't have to give me this level of responsibility," said Maxfield. "By having to do this I think I have learned more in the past few of months than I have in my three years as an Air Force officer."