JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C -- Col. Tracey Atherton assumed command of the 315th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron Feb. 20, 2021, here.
Col. John Gurrieri, 315th Operations Group commander here, presided over the assumption of command and also gave remarks during the ceremony.
“I can’t even express how wonderful it is to come back home to Charleston,” said Atherton. “Being able to come back and lead a unit that I've been a part of, and grown up in, is beyond words.”
Prior to becoming the commander of the 315th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, Atherton was the individual mobilization augmentee to the chief of aeromedical evacuation and standardization and evaluation expert review manager and also the unit effective manager, Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, from November 2015 until January 2021.
She also served as a wing standardization and evaluation flight nurse here with the 315th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron from March 2008 until October 2014.
Atherton started her Air Force career in 1994 after she graduated as a distinguished graduate in Air Force ROTC at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Atherton served as an active duty officer until 2001 and then joined the 315th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron as a flight nurse where she started her first, but certainly not last, time as a reservist with the 315th Airlift Wing.
“This is my home and this is where my heart is and now I have the privilege and honor of leading them into the next chapter,” said Atherton.