VT-2 command changes

NAVAL AIR STATION WHITING FIELD, Fla. - Coast Guard Cmdr. Edward W. Ahlstrand relieved Navy Cmdr. Wesley A. Barnes as the 57th commanding officer of the “Doerbirds,” Training Squadron Two (VT-2), in an aerial ceremony at Naval Air Station Whiting Field on Dec. 4. The squadron is one of three fixed-wing aircraft training squadrons under Training Air Wing Five. Flying a T-6B Texan aircraft, Barnes handed the reins of the squadron over the aircraft radio to Ahlstrand during the aerial ceremony. Three T-6B aircraft, one with Ahlstrand, one with Barnes, and one aircraft with the commodore of Training Air Wing Five (TW-5), Col. Jeffrey Pavelko, the ceremony’s officiating officer, flew in a three-ship formation in the ceremony. After landing the aircraft, the officers completed the ceremony outside a hangar on the installation. (Source: NAS Whiting Field, 12/09/20)