Brig. Gen. Mark Massaro, the new 96th Test Wing commander, held his first all-call Aug. 29, focusing on his leadership philosophy and potential changes for the unit.
- Massaro, a Florida native returning to Eglin after previously serving with the 40th Flight Test Squadron, emphasized three key aspects of his leadership approach: executing the mission, taking care of people, and partnering for success.
“We have to maximize the value of each person we have available to us to execute the mission,” said Massaro, who is in his 26th year of Air Force service.
The commander discussed Eglin’s role in supporting the national defense strategy, highlighting areas such as electromagnetic spectrum operations and munitions development.
“We need to develop new capabilities,” Massaro said. “These areas are the programs and operational capabilities we need to get after. They will come from program offices and developmental test organizations to move them to a point where they are combat capabilities.”
Addressing potential organizational changes, Massaro mentioned ongoing discussions at the Air Force Chief of Staff and Air Force Materiel Command levels regarding the structure of institutional wings like the 96th Test Wing.
Currently, the 96th Test Wing is considered an institutional wing, which means the unit’s test mission isn’t seen as deployable from a traditional combat perspective. Although, the wing’s Airmen are still subject to deployments individually.
He noted the possibility of splitting operations and support functions into separate wings, similar to the base’s pre-2012 structure.
- “We will communicate more information as we get it when it’s clearer what an institutional wing and a base command will look like and how it affects unit of action,” he said.
Massaro concluded by posing three questions for Airmen to consider: Why we serve, how we make it happen, and what we do.
“Think about how these apply to you and your wingman,” he said. “Each one of us, active-duty, civilian, contractor, are all critical to this mission. You all have value to this organization throughout whatever changes that may occur in the next few years.”
