Combat Systems Officers Graduate, United States Air Force, Pensacola, Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Fl.
2Lt Ian J. Watkins, United States Air Force, has been assigned to the B-1 Bomber at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas and will report for duty
sometime in December after attending Survival, Escape, Resistance and Evasion (SERE) training at Fairchild APB, Washington. While assigned at Dyess, 2Lt Watkins will be responsible for the offensive and defensive weapons systems used in the B-1. The official, unclassified Air Force narrative of his duties is ...“Air and ground battles move at almost unimaginable speed. Consequently, so do our Combat Systems Officers (CSO). Calling upon their extraordinary level of focus, efficiency and leadership, they become the eyes of their fellow servicemen. Utilizing their expertise and precision in a wide range of high-tech equipment and weapons, they find and eliminate targets. CSOs typically operate from an aircraft, such as a bomber, a fighter or a tanker, but no matter where they are, their job is always to use their skills and accomplish the mission”
2Lt Watkins is a graduate of Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Va. with a dual major in Computer Engineering and Mathematics. Ian is the son of retired Chief Master Sergeant Kemper S. Watkins, a 1977 graduate of Great Bend High School and his wife Melissa of Westminster, Colo. His mother, the former Renalda J. Hoberecht, a 1978 GBHS graduate, resides in Yorktown, Va. Ian is the brother of Tyler S. Watkins, an Intelligence Analyst with the U.s. Air Force currently stationed in Afghanistan. Ian is the grandson of Julius and Gretchen Scheck of Great Bend and Judy and Dwayne Garmeson of Kansas City.