Col. Beasley takes position as CV

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jacob Corbin
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Sitting among Airmen-in-Training and Team Sheppard members, he awaits the release of the final Harry Potter adventure with his young daughter.

It's only hours before July 21, and he passes the time by chatting with Airmen. Whether talking with them about the eagerly anticipated book or his adventures in the Air Force, he does so with a smile on his face and obvious attentiveness.

Those around him may not know who he is; he had only arrived days earlier. But whether at the 2007 Build-a-Boat Race, or the Harry Potter release party at the base Library, Sheppard's newest vice commander was visible from the day he arrived on-base.

Col. Kris Beasley, 82nd Training Wing vice commander, took Sheppard's number two spot recently, replacing former Vice Commander Col. Lansen Conley.

The colonel said he is excited to come to Sheppard, as it's his first experience with a technical training mission of this size. He said he was stunned by both the sheer number of Airmen-in-Training Sheppard instructs and the variety of courses taught here.

While at Sheppard, Colonel Beasley said his job is to aid Brig. Gen. Richard Devereaux, 82nd TRW commander, achieve his priorities of ensuring fantastic first impressions, being technically the best and maintaining a safe, secure and supportive environment.

"(I'm) his back up," Colonel Beasley said. "I help make sure the things he wants to happen are happening."

Also, Colonel Beasley said he's a conduit for information flow, both Team Sheppard's concerns and ideas to the general, and the general's message to Sheppard Airmen.

He said he hopes his ability to be a good listener, along with an abundance of energy, will help him achieve that.

"I'm very much a believer in listening to what folks are saying to find the heart of the issue," he said. "I don't feel any hesitation to carry the message both up the chain and down the chain. You have to be willing to listen."

Before taking the posting at Sheppard, Colonel Beasley was the 64th Expeditionary Group, Eskan Village, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, commander. Prior to that, he was the commander of the 341st Mission Support Group at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont. He said his background, and the reason he's in the Air Force, has been about taking care of Airmen.

"If there is one thing that gets me excited, it's getting the Airmen what they need... to do the job," he said. "We ask a great deal of our troops, sometimes even to lay down their lives. In turn we should provide them (and their families) the very best we can."

This goes along with Colonel Beasley's view of leadership, which he said is setting the vision.

"If you set the vision, make sure you set (high) standards and make sure the Airmen have the equipment, money and people they need, it's my experience that they go out and do amazing things," Colonel Beasley said. "My passion is leadership, to work with the Airmen to get the mission done."

Colonel Beasley was commissioned as a second lieutenant after graduating as a distinguished graduate from the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Oregon State University.