Col. Patrick Rhatigan

Patrick Rhatigan, a 1987 graduate of Bethpage High School pinned on his colonel eagles last September.

He has been deployed to Southwest Asia, where he was the 379th Expeditionary Operations Group commander. Before that assignment he served as the military assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs in the Pentagon.

Before moving to the Pentagon, Rhatigan served as commander of the 93rd Air Refueling Squadron out of McChord Air Force Base, Wash.

He has had numerous deployments to the Asian theater. On one of his deployments he sent his high school an American flag with a signed certificate stating, "On February 19, 2009, dedicated members of the Air Force flew this flag over Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in your honor. It flew onboard a KC-135R Stratotanker during an Operation Enduring Freedom combat refueling mission."

The 19th AW is the "Home of C-130 Combat Airlift" and works in concert with the 314th Airlift Wing, 189th Airlift Wing, 22nd Air Force Reserves Detachment 1 and USAF Mobility Weapons School in all aspects of C-130 operations and training.

As commander, Rhatigan will lead the world's largest fleet of C-130 aircraft, providing worldwide deployable C-130 aircraft, aircrews, expeditionary combat support personnel and equipment for Air Mobility Command and Air Expeditionary Force taskings.

Reprinted from the Arkansas Leader Posted by The Leader at 10:18 PM on June 11 Information taken from the "Bethpage Tribune" July 5, 2013