by Airman 1st Class Elaine Tarello
Public Affairs

After five years at Onizuka Air Station, Detachment 2, Space and Missile Systems Center, inactivated during a formal ceremony Thursday.

This inactivation, however, does not mean the end of Det. 2's mission.

Although the Det. 2 flag was furled and its commander relinquished command, the detachment's mission at Onizuka AS will remain the same, but under a different name. The organization is now designated SMC Operating Location-AO.

"Although the detachment is inactivated, only its name has changed," said former Det. 2 Commander Col. (Select) Randy T. Odle. "The outstanding Air Force Satellite Control Network on-site engineering support provided continues as normal."

Odle will serve as deputy program director, Satellite and Launch Control Systems Program Office at Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif.

Det. 2's mission at Onizuka AS is to provide engineering support for the AFSCN.

"We buy new systems and maintain the current ones," said Maj. Paul P. Pilipenko, SMC/OL-AO deputy chief. "It's basically hardware and software acquisition and maintenance."

The Onizuka AS Field Office (CWO) of the Satellite and Launch Control Systems Program Office joined Det. 2 in July 1995, and was the sole organization in the detachment since March 1998.

Odle has the distinction of being the last Det. 2 commander. "All Det. 2 personnel, past and present, can be justly proud of the resounding and lasting positive effect they have had, and will have, on this nation's overall space test and satellite control operations," Odle said.

Maj. Joseph Dortch will lead the new SMC/OL-AO, and is due to arrive in August.