Pápa, 19 June 2020 - Lieutenant Colonels Benjamin Wood of the United States Air Force, and Mikael Tormalm of the Swedish Air Force have been appointed as Commanders of the Command and Control Squadron, and the Heavy Airlift Squadron
respectively. The official change of command ceremony took place on June 18, at Pápa Air Base.

The two Lieutenant Colonels assumed command from their predecessors, Tormalm from Lieutenant Colonel Linda Thierauf of the United States Air Force, and Wood from Lieutenant Colonel Aasmund Naavik of the Royal Norwegian Air Force.

The two new squadron Commanders are already familiar faces in the Heavy Airlift Wing, as they previously have served in the Heavy Airlift Squadron.

Prior to joining the Heavy Airlift Wing in 2014, Lieutenant Colonel Tormalm was assigned to the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters where he was responsible for procurement and training of pilots for the SAAB 39 Gripen fighter system. He has also been assigned to the 21st Fighter Wing in Lulea, flying all versions of the SAAB 37 Viggen fighter, and the SAAB 39 Gripen fighter. After completing his assignment as fighter pilot he served as instructor at the Swedish Air Force Pilot Training School, specializing in tactical flying training. Lieutenant Colonel Mikael Tormalm is a C-17 Instructor Pilot, with 2,000 flying hour in the C-17 and a total of 4,000 flying hours.

Lieutenant Colonel Wood joined the Heavy Airlift Wing in 2018. Prior to that he was stationed at the Deployable Air Command and Control Centre, NATO AIRCOM, Poggio Renatico, Italy as Chief Support Plans. Lieutenant Colonel Wood has also been squadron weapons officer and Deputy Chief, wing tactics at the 437th Airlift Wing, Joint Base Charleston, SC, and squadron weapons system officer and Chief, squadron Standardization Evaluation, at the 17th Airlift Squadron, Joint Base Charleston, SC. Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Wood is a senior pilot with more than 4,300 flying hours in the C-17.