Retires form Air Force

Colonel Gary V. Wells

Retires from Air Force

Colonel Gary V. Wells retired from the Air Force after serving his country for 26 and one-half years. He is the son of Ruth Wells, Spencerport and the late Vernon Wells.

A retirement ceremony was held at McConnell Air Force Base, Wichita, Kansas, June 2. Among the guests attending the ceremony were his mother and his aunt, Margaret Gibbs, of Brockport.

Fellow graduates from the class of 1977 at E. J. Wilson High School: Daivd Gauss, Greensboro, North Carolina and Mark Taglialatela, Macedon, NY, as well as relatives from Ord and Grand Island, Nebraska, were also present.

Colonel Wells is a Master Navigator with over 3,200 flying hours, primarily in the B-52G and the B-1B.

In April 1989, Colonel Wells was selected to attend the B-1B Combat Crew Training Course at Dyess AFB, Texas and was subsequently assigned to the 28th Bomb Squadron, McConnell AFB, Kansas. He performed in multiple capacities from 1989-1994 to include B-1B Instructor Weapons Systems Officer and Assistant Chief of the Standardization and Evaluation Branch.

Colonel Wells joined the Kansas Air Guard in October 1994 as a B-1B Instructor Weapons Systems Officer and was later selected to serve as Chief of Scheduling, Flight Commander, and Operations Officer, all for the 184th Operations Support Squadron. In 1999 Colonel Wells transitioned to the logistics arena when he was selected to serve as Commander of the 184th Aircraft Generation Squadron.

Colonel Wells assumed his current position as the 184th Information Operations Group (IOG) Commander on October 1, 2002. As the IOG, Colonel Wells is responsible for the training and mission accomplishment of five diverse operational squadrons: the 134th Air Control Squadron; Detachment 1, Smoky Hill Range; the 161st Intelligence Squadron; the 177th Information Aggressor Squadron; and the 299th Network Operations Security Squadron.

Among his military decorations are: Meritorious Service Medal with four devices, Air Force Commendation Medal with one device, Army Commendation Medal, Air Force Achievement Medal, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with two devices, Combat Readiness Medal with three devices, Air Force Good Conduct Medal with one device, National Defense Service Medal with one device, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and several others.

Colonel Wells and his wife, Eileen, have been married for 23 years. They have two children, Brian, a senior at the University of Kansas and Emily, a freshman at Kansas State University.