Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Bozard was removed from command of the 113th Wing at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Aug. 31.
It remains unclear why Bozard was fired from command of the wing. Senior Master Sgt. Craig Clapper, a spokesman for the 113th, said he was not removed due to suspicions of “criminal or immoral” activity.
Col. Christopher Shepard is now serving as interim commander of the Washington, D.C., Air National Guard wing. Another officer, who has not yet been named, will assume command of the wing on Sept. 15, Clapper said.
Bozard is an F-15, F-16 and C-38 pilot with more than 3,900 hours of flight time, according to his Air Force biography. He assumed command of the 113th Wing in August 2016.
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He has served multiple combat tours in the Middle East, both as part of Operation Southern Watch — the no-fly zone in Iraq before Saddam Hussein was deposed — and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Bozard was in charge of the 1,200 airmen at the wing. Its flying units include the 121st Fighter Squadron, which flies F-16C aircraft, and the 201st Airlift Squadron, which operates C-40s that transport VIPs.
An F-16 from the 113th Wing crashed near Washington in April 2017. But the accident investigation board that studied the crash blamed it on maintainers at the 552nd Commodities Maintenance Squadron in Oklahoma. Investigators said the 552nd’s maintainers forgot crucial pieces when putting the fighter’s engine back together, and cleared maintainers and supervisors at the 113th of any responsibility for the crash.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.
