Colonel Douglas E. Fick
158th FW Commander
Vermont Air National Guard (VTANG), South Burlington, Vermont. As the Commander, he is the tactical and strategic leader of the Wing, comprised of approximately 1,000 personnel to include a full time cadre of about 300. He is also responsible for the operational readiness of the Wing's dual tasking in the general purpose air-to ground role as well as Air Sovereignty mission. Recently, the 158th Fighter Wing was selected to implement the Chief of Staff of the Air Force’s initiative known as “Community Basing”. Colonel Fick is responsible for this transformational mission, which involves the integration of active duty personnel with Air National Guard counterparts for the purpose of training.
Col Fick was commissioned from Officer Training School in November of 1982. Undergraduate Flight Training was conducted at Sheppard Air Force Base with a graduation in January of 1984. Assigned to the F-16 he completed a three year tour at Hahn AB, Germany. His next duty assignment was to Kunsan AB, ROK and his active duty career concluded with a one year assignment to Fort Irwin, CA. Col Fick entered the VTANG on February 15th, 1990 and has served as the Aircraft Maintenance Squadron Commander and Operations Group Commander. In January of 2006, Colonel Fick deployed to Balad Air Base and served as Deputy Operations Group Commander in the 332nd FW. Colonel Fick is a command pilot with over 3,400 flight hours in the F-16.
EDUCATION
1982, Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering, Montana State University
1987, Squadron Officer School, Correspondence
1997, Air Command and Staff College, Correspondence
2004, Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama
2005, Master’s Degree in National Security and Strategic Studies, Air War College
ASSIGNMENTS
Jul 1982 - Nov 1982, Officer Training School, San Antonio, Texas
Dec 1982 - Jan 1984, Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training, Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas
Feb 1984 - May 1984, Lead-In Fighter Training, Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico
Jun 1984 - Dec 1984, 61st Fighter Squadron, F-16 Replacement Training Unit, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida
Jan 1985 - Jan 1988, 313th Fighter Squadron, Hahn AB, Germany
Feb 1988 - Feb 1989, 35th Fighter Squadron, Kunsan AB, Republic of Korea
Feb 1989 - Feb 1990, 4445th Tactical Control Squadron, Fort Irwin, California
Feb 1990 - May 2000, Standardization and Evaluation Officer, Operations Officer, 134th Fighter Squadron, VTANG
May 2000 - Feb 2002, Air Operations Officer, 134th Fighter Squadron, VTANG
Feb 2002 - Jul 2003, Aircraft Generation Squadron Commander, 13rth AGS, VTANG
Jul 2003 - Jun 2004, Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama
Jun 2004 - Feb 2008, Operations Group Commander, 158th Operations Group, VTANG
Feb 2008 - Present, Wing Commander, 158th Fighter Wing, VTANG
MAJOR AWARDS & DECORATIONS
Bronze Star Medal
Meritorious Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster
Air Medal with one oak leaf cluster
Air Force Commendation with two oak leaf clusters
Air Force Achievement with two oak leaf clusters
Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon
FLIGHT INFORMATION
Rating: Command Pilot
Flight Hours: More than 3,400
Aircraft Flown: F-16 A/B/C/D
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant: 30 November 1982
First Lieutenant: 30 November 1984
Captain: 30 November 1986
Major: 3 October 1993
Lieutenant Colonel: 5 October 1997
Colonel: 17 March 2005
