SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas – The diverse missions of Sheppard AFB don’t happen without a masterful team of servants providing the foundational support, service and sustainment efforts that lead to success.
That organization, the 82nd Mission Support Group, welcomed its new leader July 7, 2021, during a ceremony that saw Col. Charles “Andy” St.Sauver take command, replacing Col. Joshua DeMotts. Brig. Gen. Kenyon K. Bell, 82nd Training Wing commander, officiated the ceremony.
St.Stauver, a 1999 graduate of the University of Minnesota, said it was an exciting day for him and his family, and he is proud to be in command of the MSG. He thanked DeMotts and the DeMotts family for the work they’ve done the past two years while guiding the group, and looks forward to continuing to build on the work started by his predecessor.
To those he will work along side and lead, the new commander said he looks forward to harnessing the resources and skills of the MSG and agencies with which they will work as they continue to advance the mission of Sheppard. St.Sauver also addressed those who make up the MSG team – military, civilians, contractors, volunteers and family members – and move the installation forward.
“I can’t wait to get out and meet all of you and see firsthand how you are taking care of each other and taking care of the mission we are entrusted with, which is supporting Sheppard’s training mission, building Airmen to ensure the Chief of Staff’s vision of accelerating change, taking care of families, strengthen partnerships with our local community and critical NATO allies,” he said. “So (Brig. Gen. Bell), I’m ready to get to work.”
St.Stauver’s served as the chief of the Manpower Program Developing Division at the Pentagon during his previous. He was responsible for programming, budgeting and controlling the Air Force’s total force manpower resources, including 694,000 Airmen and civilians. He provided senior leadership with analysis of end-strength options as it related to the president’s annual budget.
The colonel has held leadership positions at section, flight and squadron levels.
Bell lauded the MSG, which is comprised of six squadrons, as a “masterful team of servants” and “force enablers” that touch every aspect of the Sheppard mission in some form or another.
“Yes, they are roads and commodes, but also so much more,” he said. “It takes the right kind of leader to guide and inspire this disparate mission set.”
St.Sauver, he said, fits into that group of leaders equipped to take on the MSG mission. It’s also proof that the Air Force is not lacking in talent to fill those roles.
The general also praised the new MSG commander’s track record as a personnelist, his assignment history including multiple locations abroad, and his professional military education. He added it is sometimes difficult to know who is being hired to fill a position because only paperwork is often the reference material to consider.
“But for Colonel St.Sauver, there was no lack of people, even now at the most senior levels of our military both as civilian side and active duty, who are sending notice, saying what a gem and all star we have in our newest Mission Support Group commander,” he said. “So, MSG team, you are in good hands. Andy, I look forward to watching you lead, and watching you lead well, and watching how you and Chrystily put your fingerprints on this Mission Support Group. So I charge you very simply to take care of the mission and your people, and leave this mission better than you found it.”
Bell also extolled DeMotts’s tenure under unprecedented times and his aggressive nature in the face of adversity. Challenges included a global pandemic that threatened the training pipeline of two wing’s integral to the mission of the Air Force and partner nations around the globe, as well as a historic winter weather event in February 2021.
Triumphs include the successful opening of the installation’s new bar and grill The Runway, and the opening of a multi-million, multi-agency funded Main Gate project that provides an inspiring entryway to Sheppard. But, Bell said, DeMotts’s attention to those who perform the mission will be the hallmark of his tour here.
“The most prized possession has to be the way Colonel DeMotts has taken care of the people within the Mission Support Group,” he said. “Josh, your desire to see them succeed individually and collectively has gone noticed.”
DeMotts said there are two words he can’t say enough in relation to his time at Sheppard – thank you. It’s a gratitude he extended to MSG personnel, mission partners, fellow commanders and Bell, thanking them for the pride, professionalism and performance that carried them through difficult times.
“We thrived because people focused on the many missions of Sheppard Air Force Base,” he said. “So to all the missions here, to the MSG, to all of you, I can’t say thanks enough.”
The 82nd MSG is made up of the 82nd Civil Engineer Squadron, 82nd Communications Squadron, 82nd Contracting Squadron, 82nd Force Support Squadron, 82nd Logistics Readiness Squadron and 82nd Security Forces Squadron.