New vice commander sees Arnold assignment as great opportunity

  • Published
  • By Janae Daniels
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. --  Coming from a strictly aircraft maintenance background, Col. Eugene Mittuch, Arnold's new vice commander, was somewhat surprised when he found out his next assignment would be at Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC). 

"My first impression so far is that this place is very impressive," he said. "The size and the complexity of the facilities are simply amazing." 

AEDC has not had a vice commander since Navy Capt. Bob Roof, left in August 2007. 

Since 1995 the AEDC vice commander has been a Navy captain, which is equivalent to an Air Force colo¬nel. The Navy was not able to supply a captain after the last vice commander departed, but was able to provide a commander, which is one rank below captain. 

Colonel Mittuch was commissioned in 1985 after completing Officer Training School at Lackland Air Force Base (AFB), Texas. He has held a variety of positions in aircraft maintenance in multiple commands at squadron, wing and headquarters levels. 

When asked what his favorite assignment has been so far in his 24-year career, the colonel said, "I would have to say being a squadron commander was the best assignment I've had. I liked being out there with the troops on a day-to-day basis. As you move up in ranks, you tend to move further away from them." 

Although he has liked all his assignments, he admits he feels most comfortable on the flight line within the mix of the troops. 

"Development and test like what is done here at Arnold is vitally important," he commented. "But, the 18-or 19-year-old airmen pushing airplanes off the end of a ramp - to me - is what the Air Force is all about." 

The colonel is the son of a retired Air Force chief master sergeant and knows the ins and outs of a military life. 

"I was always familiar with the Air Force and my father retired from Robins Air Force Base, so I would drive by the base at least once a week going to school," he said. "While I didn't always know I was going to join the Air Force, it was always there, always present and it seemed to be a natural fit." 

With the intent of going into veterinary medicine, Colonel Mittuch changed his mind his senior year and decided to enter the Air Force after graduation. 

"When I started at the University of Georgia and majored in biology I always kind of thought veterinary medicine," he said. "But, by the third year of college I did not see myself spending another five to six years in school. And, with a bachelor's degree in biology you can't really do anything professionally; it takes a master's or Ph.D, and at that point in my life I had no desire to continue my education." 

He chose the Air Force because it was what he was most familiar with, but he also liked the opportunity to travel, to get established in a career and figure out what he wanted to do in life. 

"When I came in, like many of us, I hadn't really given any thought to stay an entire career," he said. "In my case, which happens to most people, I just fell in love with it and have made it my career. I get up every morning, come to an exciting job, and work with some of the finest people this Nation has to offer. I can't imagine doing anything else." 

The colonel and his wife Stephanie have two sons: Christopher, who just started at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and Daniel, who is a tenth grader at Tullahoma High School.