OTIS AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Mass. -- The 102nd Intelligence Wing welcomed three new unit commanders during a ceremony held at Otis Air National Guard Base on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020.
Kicking off the ceremony was the assumption of command of the 102nd Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group by Col. Enrique Dovalo. The ceremony was presided over by Col. Sean Riley, commander of the 102nd Intelligence Wing. Col. Riley spoke of the significance of the event.
“Today is really a good news story,” said Riley. “All the officers in the leadership positions in this organization are absolutely the right people, at the right time, to do all of these things and certainly accomplish a lot more.”
Col. Enrique Dovalo accepted the group guidon, becoming the 102 ISRG commander. Dovalo returns to the 102nd Intelligence Wing family after tours with the National Guard Bureau and at the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD. He previously commanded the 101st Intelligence Squadron and 102nd Intelligence Support Squadron.
“I stand in front of you today, on the shoulders of giants,” said Dovalo. “I’m building on the work that was already done before. Where we are as a group is a culmination of everything that has been happening over the past twelve years.”
In his first official act as the 102 ISRG commander, Col. Dovalo officiated the change of command for the 102nd Intelligence Support Squadron. Lt. Col. Beth Crouch relinquished command of the 102 ISS, whose guidon was passed to Maj. Sean Andersen, representing the transfer of command and authority over the squadron. Upon taking command Maj. Andersen said, “You don’t get to positons of responsibility and trust without great leaders. People who push, mentor and listen to us.”
“I believe it’s the first time in the history of the group where three active sitting squadron commanders that have each worn the patch of all three squadrons,” Maj. Andersen eluded to the familiarity and knowledge each leader brings in understanding the complexities and challenges of the other squadrons.
Col. Dovalo also officiated the change of command for the 102nd Operations Support Squadron as he passed the guidon to Lt. Col. Crouch who spoke of her return to the 102 OSS, “I started out my 14N career there, as the OIC of Plans and Programs and I’m deeply honored and privileged to be the next commander.”
“I look forward to working with each one of you as we maneuver through the challenges and changes that lie ahead.”
The 102nd ISRG’s mission of providing world-class, operationally integrated, multi-domain intelligence to warfighters, supported leaders and combatant commanders around the world make it an essential part of the Distributed Common Ground System. DCGS is the Air Force's primary intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance planning and direction, collection, processing and exploitation, analysis and dissemination weapon system.