Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA – Colonel Rebecca J. Sonkiss will relinquish command of the 62nd Airlift Wing to Colonel Scovill W. Currin, Jr. in a change of command ceremony scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday in Hangar 9, JBLM – McChord Field.
Col. Sonkiss has commanded the 62nd Airlift Wing since July 2017 and was recently selected to command the 89th Airlift Wing at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.
Col. Currin comes to McChord Field from his previous assignment as the commander of the 916th Air Refueling Wing at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina. As the new commander of the 62nd AW, Col. Currin ensures the readiness of more than 2,400 active duty Airmen and civilian personnel as well as 48 permanently assigned C-17 Globemaster III aircraft to support worldwide airlift and airdrop operations. He will be both 62nd AW commander and Air Force Senior Service Component commander on JBLM.
Col. Currin was commissioned through the Air Force ROTC program at The Citadel in 1997. He has served operational tours at Fairchild AFB, Washington, and Charleston AFB, South Carolina, flying the KC-135 Stratotanker and C-17 Globemaster. He commanded the 379th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron, Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, where he led a team of Active Duty, Guard, and Reserve Airmen in ensuring successful combat missions for more than 80 aircraft in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. Col. Currin also commanded the 437th Operations Group, Charleston AFB, the largest and busiest C-17A Operations Group in the U.S. Air Force, where he was responsible for 780 personnel, three flying squadrons, and one operational support squadron in providing combat-ready aircrews for 48 assigned C-17A aircraft.
He is a graduate of the Air Force Intern Program, Department of Defense Executive Leadership Development Program, and the Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies. In 2015, he graduated from Duke University, gaining his doctorate in History.