New Miss. Wing Commander Named

1st Lt. Alysia English
Director of Public Affairs
Southeast Region

Lt. Col. Robert P. Mims has been named commander of the Mississippi Wing, succeeding Lt. Col. Felix D. Diaz, interim commander. 

Mims has been serving as commander of the wing’s Desoto Composite Squadron. He has been named the wing’s Squadron of the Year three times.

“Lt. Col. Mims has served as an outstanding leader during his tenure with Mississippi Wing,” said Col. Andrea Van Buren, Southeast Region commander. "His ability to provide a clear vision is coupled with great communication skills, which he uses to motivate membership and match volunteer skills with positions.

"He will be a valuable addition to the Southeast Region team of wing commanders.” 

Mims has served as Mississippi Wing assistant director of operations and as a squadron operations officer, mission pilot, scanner, flight release officer, air operation branch director, aerial photographer and aerospace education member. 

As squadron commander, he developed ways to keep cadets engaged despite COVID-19-related restrictions, with membership increasing during the last year. Numerous cadets in the squadron have been nominated to service academies.   

Mims has 51 years of flying experience and is a 30-year U.S. Air Force veteran. He served at Headquarters Military Airlift Command, where he managed global operations for all airlift wings. He was assigned as chief of the Operational Programming Division and then Strategy and Doctrine Division, where he directed development of air mobility doctrine, concepts and plans, managing a $52 billion force structure modernization program.  

Mims served as a C-130 and AC-130 gunship aircraft commander and later commanded a C-130 Tactical Airlift Squadron. He deployed overseas five times, including deployment during Desert Storm. As  commandant of the Air Force Air Mobility School, he trained thousands of multiservice personnel in global airlift and air mobility.

He concluded his military service as a professor of aerospace studies at Louisiana Tech University and served more than 20 years as an Air Force Junior ROTC senior  aerospace science instructor.

Mims holds a master’s degree in operations management from the University of Arkansas, a master’s in secondary education from Grand Canyon University, and a bachelor’s in industrial engineering technology from Mississippi State University.