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What does an Air Force Colonel do?

Nida Rasheed
Nida Rasheed

An air force colonel ranks as a senior field grade military officer who has a wide variety of duties and responsibilities. The duty of these colonels varies from person to person, but all of them are expected to be capable leaders. They are required to understand the workings of their assigned specialty. Colonels typically are not the highest rank in the air force, but they are senior officers and therefore are responsible for large groups of air force officers. Air force colonels have a high designation in the military rank structure and are respected and followed by the lower officers.

Most air force colonels are assigned the task of commanding a unit or an entire base. Colonels who command units have to report to base commanders. A colonel who is a base commander is expected to report to higher-ranking officers in the air force, such as the leaders of the command. A United States air force colonel’s insignia is a silver eagle, which is worn on the left and right collars or shoulders of their military uniform.

Woman holding a book
Woman holding a book

For an air force colonel who works directly under a general, the duties include acting primarily in an advisory capacity. The colonel might even act as a liaison between the general or high-ranking commander and the rest of the lower-ranking air force officers. Usually, smaller bases may have colonels as commanders who will be in charge of the entire military base of the deployed location. The colonel typically will rely on senior non-commissioned officers and the unit leaders to keep him or her updated and well informed.

An air force colonel can be assigned to those units comprising of personnel from other branches of the military as well. A colonel also can have duties that are assigned on the basis of a specialization. For instance, a colonel in charge of the flying unit has different duties than a colonel in charge of reporting to a high-ranking officer. Furthermore, an air force colonel might supervise lower-ranking officers on the basis of the unit and any specialization, and he or she might even work alongside the lower-ranking officers. Basically, a colonel’s duty varies widely, and each air force colonel can be assigned duties that are different from those of other colonels.

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