GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. -- Airmen and family members filled Gus Grissom Hall to witness a long-standing tradition as one of Grissom’s own pinned on eagles.
Col. Brian Hollis, 434th Operational Support Squadron commander, was recently promoted to the rank of colonel in front of family, friends and peers at a ceremony held here, April 7.
Col. Paul Gates, 434th Air Refueling Wing vice commander, who presided over the ceremony, expressed his confidence in Hollis and offered words of advice.
“I’ll be honest, it’s cool to be a colonel,” said Gates, joking about the perks that come with the rank. “Remember, though, to always use the power of that rank to support your people.
“You have a whole room here full of people who are proud of you and believe in your ability, and we all know you’re going to do great,” he continued.
Hollis, who began his career in 1990 with the Alaska Air National Guard, chose to highlight the importance of personal military education in his remarks. Before taking command of the 434th OSS, he held numerous jobs within the 434th ARW, including tanker scheduler, nuclear plans officer, assistant chief pilot tactics officer, chief of mission development, chief of plans and director of operations.
“I feel like a dog who spent his whole life chasing cars, and now he’s finally got one and is thinking ‘Now what?’” he said. “Everyone here, do your personal military education, because you never know where you’re going to end up.”
The history of the prestigious rank dates back to around 1505, when the Spanish King Ferdinand reorganized part of his army into twenty units called colunelas. These consisted of about 1000 to 1,250 men further organized into companies with their commander being named a coronel.
The French, and later the British, adopted the title, and although initially retaining the original Spanish pronunciation, the British soon used the pronunciation of “kernel” we’re familiar with today.
The eagle insignia led to the informal term ‘full bird colonel.’
The 434th ARW is the largest KC-135R Stratotanker unit in the Air Force Reserve Command. The Citizen Airmen from the Hoosier Wing routinely deploy around the world in support of the Air Force mission.
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