Photo By Jerry Bynum | U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Randall Ogden, 4th Air Force commander, Col. Athanasia...... read more read more
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii - Members of the Air Force Reserve’s 624th Regional Support Group here welcomed a new commander during an assumption of command ceremony July 7.
Col. Athanasia Shinas, who has more than 20 years of Air Force experience in active and reserve components, took command of the 624th RSG, which has units in Hawaii and Guam.
“We are Reserve Citizen Airmen volunteering to serve our country and each other,” said Shinas. “I am truly honored to have this opportunity to serve alongside and for each of you.”
Maj. Gen. Randall Ogden, 4th Air Force commander, officiated the assumption of command. He congratulated Shinas during the ceremony and recognized her for her leadership and diverse career. Ogden went on to recognize her family’s distinguished service dating back to World War II.
“Col. Shinas’ family has a history of service in the Pacific,” said Ogden. “Her grandfather served in Hawaii during the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. He would be proud to see her serving here.”
Shinas brings a wide-range of experience to her first wing-level command position. She entered the Air Force in 1997 as a graduate of Boston University. She served on active duty for 12 years before transferring to the Air Force Reserve in 2009. Shinas has extensive executive, command and inspector general experience. She served as a battle captain in the Joint Staff at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and has completed several deployments supporting multiple operations worldwide, including Southern Watch, Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom and Odyssey Dawn.
Most recently, Shinas completed a National Security Fellowship at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she studied economics, negotiation, foreign policy, public narrative, and performed academic research on public support for the “Long War."
Shinas took time during the ceremony to recognize her family for helping her throughout her career. She thanked her mother and father for giving her the traits necessary to become the person she is today. Shinas paid respect to her heritage by speaking Greek to her father, who is an immigrant from Greece. She went on to share her perspective on the importance of legacy with those in attendance.
“We are all products of legacy of others,” said Shinas. “We are the resilience in the system protecting our country from those who would do us harm.”
Shinas looks forward to continuing her grandfather’s legacy. Her grandfather, Pvt. Ralph E. Yeager, served as a U.S. Army Air Corps B-17 Flying Fortress tail gunner in Hawaii and throughout the Pacific during World War II.
“My grandfather is my inspiration to serve,” said Shinas. “I carry with me his passion as an Airmen, and look forward to continuing the Group’s legacy here during the next few years.”
The 624th RSG delivers mission essential capability for the Air Force Reserve Command to Combatant Commanders through combat readiness, quality management, peacetime deployment and execution of five geographically separated units and a headquarters element. The Group provides nearly 700 combat-ready Airmen who specialize in aerial port, aeromedical support and civil engineering operations for worldwide employment, promoting peace and stability in the Asia Pacific region and world-wide.
| Date Taken: | 07.09.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 07.11.2018 18:04 |
| Story ID: | 283646 |
| Location: | HONOLULU, HI, US |
| Hometown: | MOUNTAINSIDE, NJ, US |
| Web Views: | 59 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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