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New commander takes Air Force Recruiting reins

  • Published
  • By By Staff Sgt. Jennifer Lindsey
  • Air Force Recruiting Service Public Affairs
RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AETCNS) --  Force Recruiting Service welcomed its new commander during a change of command ceremony here July 17.

Brig. Gen. Suzanne Vautrinot took command from Brig. Gen. Robertus Remkes, who headed AFRS since 2004. In her new role, General Vautrinot is the first female to lead Air Force recruiting in the service’s 52-year history. The general pinned on her new rank in a promotion ceremony preceding the change of command.

In her first address to the troops, the new commander lauded all Air Force Recruiting Service members for providing a first-class impression of the Air Force with an enthusiastic “commitment to excellence.”

“Everything I’ve seen in AFRS includes all of these qualities and more, and I promise to never change that,” she said.

General Vautrinot also briefly addressed the challenges the Air Force and the recruiting service faces as budgetary constraints and manning reductions continue.

“The nation is at war, and the Air Force needs to become lean. Every one of us must do more, work smarter and more efficiently without losing one ounce of what we bring (to the service),” she said. “I am enthusiastic to lead and make the commitment that when I pin on the (recruiting service) badge, I am equally enthusiastic to be one of you.”

As the Air Force Recruiting Service commander, General Vautrinot leads four groups and 28 squadrons with more than 3,270 active-duty and 305 civilian recruiters and support personnel assigned to locations in the United States, England, Germany, Italy, Japan, Puerto Rico and Guam. The organization is charged with the development, implementation and management of enlisted and officer recruiting programs.

Preceding her assignment here, General Vautrinot served as the Strategic Security deputy director for the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Air, Space and Information Operations, Plans and Requirements at U.S. Air Force headquarters in Washington, D.C. There she provided policy and guidance to Air Force nuclear, space, counterproliferation and homeland defense programs.

The general received her commission from the Air Force Academy in 1982. During her 24-year career, she has commanded the 50th Space Wing and the 11th Space Warning Squadron at Schriever Air Force Base, Colo., and the 614th Space Operations Group at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. She also served as the 14th Air Force operations chief and as the Aerospace Operations Center director at Vandenberg, and as the 4th Space Operations Squadron operations officer, Falcon Air Force Base, Colo. Additionally, she served in staff assignments at U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Air Force Space Command headquarters, Joint Staff headquarters and at the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff office.

General Remkes was selected for promotion to major general and for reassignment as U.S. European Command headquarters plans and policies director at Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany.