New Mexico Air Guard special operations wing gets first female commander

SANTA FE, N.M. — The New Mexico Air National Guard’s 150th Special Operations Wing has its first female commander, a colonel who has deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan as a combat rescue helicopter pilot.

The Guard announced Friday that Col. Esther Camacho Sablan was scheduled to assume command of the wing during a ceremony Saturday.

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The 150th is based at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque where it is a partner unit with the 58th Special Operations Wing, an active Air Force unit.

According to the Air Guard, the 150th's current missions including flight training, aircraft maintenance, intelligence targeting and combat and medical support.

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Sablan served at Joint Base Andrews in Washington before being assigned as the incoming commander of the 150th.

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