Healy Takes Command of 22nd Air Force
12 | August 2019 | Real Hero Report
Maj. Gen. John P.
Healy, commander of
the 22nd Air Force,
gives remarks, July 26,
2019, at Dobbins Air
Reserve Base. (U.S. Air
Force photo by Airman
Kendra A. Ransum)
Lt. Gen. Richard W. Scobee, Chief
of Air Force Reserve and Air Force
Reserve commander, passes the
guidon to Maj. Gen. John P. Healy,
incoming commander of the 22nd Air
Force, during a change of command
ceremony, July 26, 2019, at Dobbins
Air Reserve Base. (U.S. Air Force
photo by Airman Kendra A. Ransum)
Maj. Gen. John P. Healy took
command of 22nd Air Force
(22nd AF) from Maj. Gen.
Craig L. La Fave during a ceremony at the
Clay National Guard Center Drill Hall,
Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia, on
July 26, 2019.
Gen. Richard W. Scobee, commander of
Air Force Reserve Command and Chief of
the Air Force Reserve.
“Twenty-Second Air Force is a unique
organization,” said Scobee. “In addition
to its core mission of tactical airlift, it
has units that perform special tasks, and
have a hand in almost everything the Air
Force does. For that reason, the 22nd AF
commander must possess a wide range of
experience.”
He applauded La Fave and his wife
Jill for their leadership and service to
the Airmen of 22nd AF over the past 20
months, and welcomed their successors,
Healy and his wife Cathy.
“General Healy has the ability,
personality and vision to keep 22nd Air
Force on point,” said Scobee, to the many
service members, civic leaders, families
and guests in attendance.
22nd Air Force commander. “The last
20 months for 22nd Air Force have been
nothing less than spectacular,” he said.
“Recently, the 910th Airlift Wing out of
Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Ohio,
accomplished the largest sustainment
airdrop in Central Command history.”
“We have had a continuous presence
in Iraq and Afghanistan, equipping our
the enemy,” he added. “The sun has never
set on 22nd Air Force, and I trust that Jill
and I presented a model to you of what an
Air Force family is all about.”
Upon Scobee’s command to
publish Order 19-06, General La Fave
relinquished command of 22nd Air Force
to General Healy.
Healy is the former Director of
Exercises and Assessments and Advisor
on Reserve Component Affairs for U.S.
European Command at Patch Barracks in
Stuttgart, Germany. He was commissioned
in the U.S. Air Force through the ROTC
program at the University of Connecticut
C-141 aircraft.
squadron, served as a Vice Wing
Commander at Westover Air Reserve
Base, Massachusetts, and deployed as the
Division Chief of Current Operations to
the U.S. Central Command Deployment
and Distribution Operations Center, Camp
Arifjan, Kuwait. He said he plans to use
that experience.
“I’m proud to be back at 22nd Air
Force, since serving with the 439th
Airlift Wing before it transitioned to 4th
Air Force,” Healy said. “My priority is
readiness–continued readiness for the
Air Force will continue. You expect it, and
I expect it.”
The 22nd AF is one of three numbered
air forces in the Air Force Reserve
Command. It’s a combat ready force
comprised of more than 12,000 Reserve
Citizen Airmen in 14 units at 30 locations
across the U.S. Department of Defense.
Healy will be responsible for the Air
Force Reserve’s tactical airlift capability
Hercules. In addition to airlift, 22nd
AF units perform a variety of mission
sets to include aeromedical evacuation,
distinguished visitor airlift, undergraduate
testing, joint planning, Basic Military
Training and more.