482nd FW to gain new vice commander

  • Published

Team Homestead will welcome a new vice commander for the 482nd Fighter Wing July 5.

Col. Michael Hernandez, the former 482nd Fighter Wing vice commander, is headed to Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, where he will take command of the 325th Fighter Wing as the first Reservist to lead an active duty base in recent memory.

Col. Brian Neal will replace Hernandez as the vice commander for the 482nd FW. Neal is coming from the same place Hernandez is headed, Tyndall AFB, where he has served as commander for the 44th Fighter Group since 2012.

Neal graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado, in 1992 where he commissioned as a second lieutenant.

He is a command pilot with more than 2,700 flying hours and holds a record for longest combat flight at 44 hours while piloting the B-2 Stealth Bomber.