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Maj. Gen. Hertog assumes command of 2nd Air Force

  • Published
  • By Angela Cutrer
  • 81st Training Wing Public Affairs
KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  When Maj. Gen. Mary Kay Hertog assumed command of the 2nd Air Force at Keesler Air Force Base Sept. 9 from Maj. Gen. Alfred Flowers, Gen. Stephen R. Lorenz called the two generals "two of the finest leaders the Air Force has known."
 
"When I meet with Airmen, I always tell them 'you're the next great generation' and it's true," General Lorenz, Air Education and Training Command commander, said during today's change of command. "With the training, professionalism, pride and values the 2nd Air Force instills in them, great Americans are born, and they are the heart and soul of the Air Force.
 
"Your watch is full of outstanding accomplishments and highlights, and your fingerprints are etched upon Airmen's lives across the command," he told General Flowers. 

2nd Air Force is the AETC organization that oversees technical and combat training for 250,000 students annually. 

General Flowers, the first career finance and budget officer to command a numbered Air Force, is heading to the Pentagon as Air Force budget director. 

General Hertog, accompanied by her husband, Herm Hertog, a retired chief master sergeant, smiled when General Lorenz commented that "success is a family business" for the Hertogs. 

"I am honored and thrilled to be home again in 2nd Air Force," General Hertog said. "I look forward to candid feedback about our training, because every aspect of training supports the Air Force. We train and graduate 250,000 students a year, but it's not just training that we do; we provide leaders."
 
General Hertog is a career security forces officer whose most recent assignment was director of the Air Force's security forces. She has worked at unit, major command and Air Staff level in various positions, including commanding several large security forces units and a technical training group. Prior to her assignment in Washington, D.C., she was commander of the 37th Training Wing, Lackland AFB, Texas, one of the largest training wings in the Air Force.
 
General Lorenz welcomed General Hertog "back into the AETC family" with the comment that, "The chisel is now in your hands; the stone is before you." 

General Hertog replied, "It all starts here. Training helps determine our future because leadership makes a difference. I thank you for the honor and the privilege."