Darnell flies last mission as Nellis wing commander

Jace Radke

Monday, June 16, 2003 | 9:03 a.m.

Between his time as a student at the Air Force's Weapons School and as a wing commander of more than 110 aircraft, Brig. Gen. Dan Darnell has found himself stationed at Nellis Air Force Base for about a third of his 27-year military career.

"I think we spent about nine years here, and I think my kids have spent more time in Las Vegas than any of our other stops," Darnell said Friday after stepping from the cockpit of his F-16 Fighting Falcon after his last flight at Nellis as commander of the 57th Wing.

"I'm certainly going to miss the jet fuel, the wrenches and the guys who wrestle the bombs onto our planes."

Darnell, who is leaving Nellis to command the Space Warfare Center at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado, was scheduled to hand over command of the 57th Wing to Brig. Gen. Gregory J. Ihde this morning.

Darnell, 50, has been assigned to Nellis five times over his career, including a two-year stint beginning in 1992 as the lead pilot of the Thunderbirds. In 2001 he was named commander of the 57th Wing, overseeing the weapons school, a doctorate program for pilots.

The commander of the 57th is also responsible for the Thunderbirds, the 66th Rescue Squadron, the Air Force's unmanned Predator aircraft squadrons and the huge Red Flag and Air Warrior training programs hosted by Nellis.

Ihde, 49, takes over the post after serving as commander of the 455th Expeditionary Wing at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan.

Darnell has logged more than 4,500 hours as a pilot and made his last flight over the Nevada Test and Training Range as the commander of the 57th Wing on Friday. Darnell flew for about 90 minutes with another F-16 and two F-15 Eagles in some routine air-to-air combat training, Nellis officials said.

Darnell recently returned from a deployment to Iraq, where he directed the air campaign during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"I think as a country and as a military we did better than anyone thought we would," Darnell said of the war in Iraq. "We did a good job, and it was a great feeling to come back home."