Sweeney takes command of 423rd ABG

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Brian Stives
  • 501st Combat Support Wing Public Affairs
6/21/2013 --  RAF MOLESWORTH, United Kingdom - Col. Steve Sweeney assumed command of the 423rd Air Base Group during a change of command ceremony at Hangar 84 on RAF Molesworth June 21.

After accepting the 423rd ABG guidon from Col. Brian Kelly, 501st Combat Support Wing commander, Sweeney addressed the audience and the formation of nearly 50 423rd ABG Airmen.

"My command philosophy is very simple, it is five F's - Flying: that's the mission and supporting our mission partners; Fairness; Fitness; Family; and Fun," he said. "And we will have plenty of time to work through all of them."

Sweeney's most recent a position was as the director of Standardization and Evaluation for 24th Air Force, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. He is a 1991 graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., and is a career cyber operations officer with more than 20 years of technical and leadership experience at multiple organizational levels.

As a three-time squadron commander, Sweeney led the 34th Combat Communications Squadron, the 407th Expeditionary Communications Squadron and the 86th Communications Squadron. He has also led avionics and computer security development efforts for the F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the International Space Station, and aboard the Navy's CVN-74, USS John C. Stennis Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier.

The 423rd Air Base Group provides world-class combat support enabling intelligence and communications at RAF Alconbury, RAF Molesworth and Stavanger, Norway. The group is headquartered at RAF Alconbury and is composed of six squadrons: the 423rd Civil Engineer Squadron, 423rd Communications Squadron, 423rd Force Support Squadron, 423rd Medical Squadron and 423rd Security Forces Squadron, all based at RAF Alconbury, and the 426th Air Base Squadron based at Stavanger. The 423rd ABG serves a community of more than 6,200 in the United Kingdom and more than 1,300 in Norway.