Kwast headed to Langley
By Kenneth Fine
Published in News on April 4, 2008 1:46 PM
By early fall, the 4th Fighter Wing will have a new commander.
Air Force officials confirmed Thursday Col. Steve Kwast has been assigned to Langley Air Force Base, where he will serve as Air Combat Command's deputy director of requirements.
His replacement, Col. Thomas Bergeson, is currently in theater, assigned to Multi-National Force Iraq, and is expected to take the reins no later than Sept. 15.
Kwast came back to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base as its commander in September 2006, a decade after finishing up his sixth year as a member of the 4th's 336th Fighter Squadron.
While commander, Kwast has seen his airmen earn an "excellent" grade on their January 2007 Operational Readiness Inspection, flew with his aircrews when the 4th was asked to perform a fly-over at the funeral of former President Gerald Ford and helped welcome a record turnout at last year's Wings Over Wayne air show.
Before his second stint at Seymour Johnson, Kwast was already a storied command pilot.
He recorded 238 combat hours during operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Southern Watch and Enduring Freedom and flew both the F-15E Strike Eagle the and T-6 Texan.