New colonel takes over at Nellis Air Force Base

Jace Radke

Thursday, Jan. 16, 2003 | 8:43 a.m.

As Col. Delwyn Eulberg, the outgoing Nellis Air Force Base commander, gave his farewell address Wednesday, a Nellis fire truck churned to life and loudly backed out of the Thunderbird Hangar.

"Look at that -- I got my very own flyby," Eulberg said of the fire truck as it moved out of the hangar. "I've got goose bumps."

Over the last 32 months, fire trucks, forklifts, Hummers and just about anything else at Nellis that doesn't have wings rolled under the orders of Eulberg, commander of the 99th Air Base Wing.

The wing provides law enforcement, contracting and medical services, and other forms of support for all of the other infrastructure and daily concerns at the base.

Eulberg turned those responsibilities over to Col. Gerald Sawyer on Wednesday. Sawyer comes to Nellis after serving as commander of the 43rd Mission Support Group at Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina.

Eulberg, who has been selected for promotion to brigadier general, has been assigned as director of civil engineering for the Air Force's Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base, Belleville, Ill.

During Eulberg's tenure at Nellis the base purchased more than 400 acres under the base's northern flight path to ensure that commercial and residential development does not completely surround the base and endanger the ability of planes loaded with munitions to take off. Other accomplishments included a $66 million master plan for the arrival of the RQ-1A Predators, unmanned surveillance planes, and the F-22 Raptor, the military's new fighter jets.

Eulberg also helped to negotiate $33 million in upgrades to roads and facilities at Nellis, including a new base exchange building and an expanded commissary.

Sawyer said he plans to focus on the 99th's mission and wants to ensure that the people under his command enjoy their jobs.

"We're dedicated to providing world- class fighter pilots, tactics and training," Sawyer said. "The 99th provides support to every unit that lives and breathes at Nellis."