2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base to get first woman commander of a combat bomber wing in the next weeks.

Even if it has not been officially confirmed, according to the Times Col. Kristin E. Goodwin, a 1993 graduate of the Air Force Academy who’s served since June as vice commander of the 509th Bomb Wing (nation’s only B-2 Spirit unit at Whiteman AFB, Missouri), will be appointed to lead 2nd BW at Barksdale Air Force Base, in Lousiana in the next weeks.

Goodwin, with more than 2,700 hours in the B-2, EC-130 and C-130 aircraft, has recently got her Stratofortress qualification: a requirement to lead one of the U.S. Air Force’s premier bomb units.

If confirmed, the selection of the first female commander would be just the latest of a long series of firsts for Barksdale: not only it was the first homebase of all-jet bomber wing, but it also was the first base to host Russian Tu-95 Bear bombers on a courtesy visit. More recently, it was the base to which then-President George W. Bush flew in the aftermath of 9-11 terrorist attacks, and from where he spoke to the nation.

Image credit: Christopher A. Ebdon

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