The commander of the Arizona Air National Guard 162nd Wing has been promoted to brigadier general.
In a ceremony Saturday on the base at Tucson International Airport, junior enlisted airmen pinned silver stars onto the shoulders of wing commander Brig. Gen. Phil Purcell in front of more than 1,000 airmen and guests including Air Force Maj. Gen. Michael T. McGuire, adjutant general of the Arizona National Guard.
Purcell’s promotion, from colonel, was approved by the U.S. Senate on Oct. 29.
Brig. Gen. Edward P. Maxwell, commander of the Arizona Air Guard, officiated over the ceremony and emphasized Purcell’s advocacy for the wing and its airmen.
Purcell, 51, assumed command of the Arizona Air National Guard 162nd Wing in November 2013, after serving as vice commander of the Virginia Air Guard’s 192nd Fighter Wing.
A veteran of Operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom with 28 years of service, Purcell has more than 3,000 flying hours in the F-16 Fighting Falcon and F-22 Raptor.
Breaking from tradition on Saturday, Purcell chose the most junior enlisted airmen from each of the wing’s groups to perform the honor of pinning on the service dress jacket’s silver stars and placing new shoulder boards for his dress shirt.
Purcell is the 12th commander of the 162nd Wing, which trains U.S. and foreign pilots to fly the F-16, since its founding in 1956 as the 152nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron. The unit was called the 162nd Fighter Wing until 2014, when the word “fighter” was dropped after the wing gained a unmanned aircraft reconnaissance group.
