JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas -- AFIMSC’s second vice commander arrived for duty in mid-July and he’s ready to work with the team to shape the future of Air Force installation and mission support operations.
Col. Pat Miller replaces Col. Greg Reese, who retired April 27 after serving as AFIMSC’s first vice commander since the summer of 2015.
Miller comes to AFIMSC from MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, where he served as 6th Mission Support Group commander the past years.
He said he’s looking forward to helping Maj. Gen. Spacy and the AFIMSC team.
“I’m excited and humbled to serve as the vice commander of AFIMSC,” he said. “The organization is swarming with extraordinary men and women delivering unmatched installation and mission support across our Air Force. I’m looking forward to leading and learning from this amazing team as we support the warfighter and shape the future of I&MS.”
The vice commander plays a pivotal role in ensuring mission execution, programs and processes, and myriad other activities stay on track to move AFIMSC forward in support of the Center’s customers and workforce.
“As the vice commander, I serve a number of roles,” Miller said. “However, I believe my primary role is to keep the machine moving in the direction and at the pace of our commander.
“Additionally, I need to actively engage and listen to our team and our customers. Given the nature of our business, it is easy to get lost in the churn of day-to-day work. We need to find the balance between executing the mission, developing professional Airmen, valuing the team and shaping the future. I urge folks to use me as a sounding board to bounce ideas off or as a lever to prompt an action such as building teams or breaking through barriers. I’m here to serve.”
Having come from an assignment as a base-level mission support group commander, Miller brings a fresh perspective from the field and experience as an AFIMSC customer, which will serve AFIMSC well as the Center team seeks to improve capability execution. At the same time, he said he wants to learn firsthand the roles the Center fulfills in supporting I&MS operations across the Air Force.
“As I get settled into this new role, my primary focus is to listen and learn,” he said. “We’re surrounded by experts. The greatest strength of our organization is our diversity in thought and experience. One of my primary goals is to propel us along the path of functioning as a center so we can capitalize on that diversity.”
He added people can expect him to ask a lot of questions as he gets immersed in the AFIMSC mission over the course of the next several weeks. Those questions, he said, come from his desire to learn and understand how AFIMSC executes its more than 150 capabilities.
“As I get out and about, I always warn folks that I ask a ton of questions and to not take it as me questioning their ability or intent. I implicitly trust the team,” Miller said. “My questions are more about understanding what we are doing and why so I can best serve the team while also making sure we consider the various perspectives across our organization, as well as from our wide array of customers. I look forward to the challenge and getting to meet as many folks as possible.”
Miller joined the Air Force in December 1997 as a distinguished ROTC graduate at Pennsylvania State University. He is a career civil engineer who has served as a squadron and group commander. His other tours include instructor duty at the Civil Engineer and Services School, staff work with Joint Basing and BRAC programs at Air Mobility Command, and tours at the Pentagon as CE Directorate MILCON program manager and executive officer to the assistant deputy chief of staff for logistics, installations and mission support. His expeditionary experience includes five deployments to various locales.
The colonel will soon have a new official photo, but in the meantime, you can read more about his career HERE.