88th Set To Officially Welcome New Commander

Col. Bobbi Doorenbos said it was a little surreal but really exciting when she got the call she would be the next commander of the 188th Wing.

“There’s a lot of emotions that go into that (the call), that range from full on terrified to can’t wait to get started, and everything in between,” Doorenbos said. “This is obviously a career promotion and gets me closer to family. I couldn’t be happier.”

Doorenbos will be installed as 188th commander at a change-of-command ceremony at Ebbing Air National Guard Base today.

One of the first female F-16 pilots in the United States and daughter of an Air National Guard pilot, Doorenbos joined the Iowa Air National Guard in Sioux City in 1993.

“He (her father who flew F-100s) used to take me to the airport when I was a kid. I’d hear the noise and smell the jet fuel when I was 5, and I was like, ‘I’m doing that,’” Dorenboos said.

Although her most recent assignment was as commander of the 214th Reconnaissance Group at Monthan-Davis Air Force Base in Arizona which flies the MQ-1 Predator remotely piloted aircraft, Doorenbos also has experience in the nation’s capital.

From January 2002 until August 2006, Doorenbos was branch chief A3XO at Air National Guard National Headquarters, where she oversaw training and contingency deployments of the Air National Guard’s 88 flying wings.

In June 2007, she was selected as a White House Fellow under the George W. Bush administration.

The annual program was started by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, and “offers exceptional young men and women first-hand experience working at the highest levels of the federal government. Fellows participate in an education program consisting of round table discussions with leaders from the private and public sectors and study trips to examine U.S. policy in action,” according to a White House news release.

The release notes that Doorenbos served in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Southern Watch, was among pilots scrambled to provide presidential protection on Sept. 11, 2001, and also flew combat air patrols over Washington D.C.

From 2010-12, Doorenbos was a special adviser to Vice President Joe Biden for defense policy and intelligence programs. She was then assigned as division chief for integration requirements at the National Guard Bureau, where she handled intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance acquisitions for manned and unmanned aircraft in the Air Guard, before moving on to Monthan-Davis.

Arkansas Air National Guard Commander Brig. Gen. Dwight Balch tapped Doorenbos as the new 188th commander, with input from outgoing 188th Wing Commander Col. Mark Anderson.

Anderson said he got to make a lot of calls to a lot of people who knew her well and speak to her himself.

“I was so excited when Gen. Balch picked Bobbi, because I knew she’d be the perfect commander to come in here and lead the Wing forward,” Anderson said.

Anderson said she’s got the experience as a commander for RPA, experience at the national level in acquisitions for RPAs, always has a positive attitude, a spring in her step and people like her.

“We were in a conference at the Guard Bureau — we were going to talk about the 188th — and we spent some time in the lobby of the National Guard Bureau, and we didn’t get anything done. Every time a door opened, someone knew Bobbi Doorenbos, and they were up hugging and shaking hands,” Anderson said. “It’s good to see that nobody walks by without acknowledging her. To me, that told me she’d done some good stuff along the way, and that will go a long way here.”

As the first 188th commander not promoted from within the unit in it’s more than 60-year history, Anderson said it will take someone with a special personality to fit in quickly, and Doorenbos has already shown she will in her short time (about two weeks) here.

Anderson, who was active duty Air Force from 1986 until he joined the 188th in 2000, was 188th vice commander from May 11, 2011, until April 12, 2012, when he was named wing commander.

He’s overseen the initial conversion as the 188th transitions from an A-10 mission to a unit with multiple missions: remotely piloted aircraft; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; and space-focused targeting.

Although he joined the 188th as a traditional guardsman, working full time as a commercial pilot for American Airlines, Anderson was activated as full-time Guard follow the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center, and has remained so ever since.

Anderson said leaving the 188th will be an adjustment.

“I’m really going to miss all the folks here,” Anderson said. “I’ll come out here and harass these guys on a regular basis.”

Anderson’s immediate plans are to return to his job at American Airlines.

Doorenbos’ immediate plan is getting up to speed on everything going on at the 188th, which requires being surrounded by amazing leaders, and she said the 188th has those in all the right places.

“I have every expectation that I’m going to get great advice every step along the way, so I think that will make it easier,” Doorenbos said.

And Anderson said he leaves the 188th knowing it’s in good hands with Doorenbos at the helm.

“The future is bright for the 188th,” Anderson said.