Team Goodfellow welcomes Col. Thomas Schmidt Published July 18, 2012 By Senior Airman Anne Gathua 17th Training Wing Public Affairs GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Team Goodfellow welcomed Col. Thomas Schmidt, the new 17th Training Wing Vice Commander, July 9. The Philadelphia, Pa. native received his commission in 1992 through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps. He has served in various Air Traffic Control, Airfield Operations and Airspace Management assignments across four major commands, including tours in California, Oklahoma, Germany, and New Mexico, as well as deployments to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Iraq. Prior to his current assignment, he spent five years in Air Education and Training Command, where he served as commander of a Basic Military Training Squadron and deputy division chief on the headquarters staff, and one year attending Senior Developmental Education at the National War College, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C. The 20-year officer said he is very excited to be back in AETC and the Lone Star State. "My family and I have been here for a little less than two weeks and have been impressed with Goodfellow and what we've seen of the San Angelo community," the colonel said. An Air Force "brat", who spent most of his pre-adult years living in Europe, Schmidt said him and his family bleed Air Force blue. "My wife grew up in an Air Force household and is the daughter of a retired lieutenant colonel and my father was a senior master sergeant in the Air Force, having served our nation for more than 25 years until his untimely death in the late 1980's," he added. As the son of an enlisted Air Force service member, the colonel said one of his career highlights was the opportunity to command a Basic Military Training Squadron, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, the very place where his father completed his entry-level training in the 1960's. Schmidt added that although it's difficult to part from family for extended periods of time, his deployments stand out as the most significant events in his military career. "I have witnessed first-hand the amazing level of interaction between our services in accomplishing the mission and the great work that Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines are performing in the defense of our country while serving in harm's way," he said.
