Sioux City, Iowa (RI) — Iowa National Guard Colonel Adam “Ace” Carlson is the new commander of the 185th Air Refueling Wing in Sioux City.
Carlson, who is from Lawton, Iowa, enlisted with the 185th in 1999 when it was a fighter wing flying F-16s. He returns after serving at the Pentagon and Andrews Air Force Base.
The unit’s Stratotankers weigh over 322 thousand pounds when loaded with fuel at take-off and Carlson says getting a new runway is a priority.
The unit began flying the KC-135 tankers in 2003. F-16 Falcons used the runway before that. A formal change of command ceremony was held Sunday afternoon as Carlson takes over from Colonel Sonya Morrison.
Morrison has been commander of the refueling wing for the past three years. She’s heading to a new position at the Air National Guard Readiness Center at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.
Colonel Morrison is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa and was commissioned in 1999 through the Army ROTC program.