An aviation path that began in 1987 as a cadet airman basic in the Wisconsin Wing’s Waukesha Composite Squadron has reached a new height for U.S. Air Force Col. Terrance J. Holmes, who took command of one of the Air Force’s three strategic missile wings June 12.
As wing commander of the 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming, Holmes holds responsibility over the missiles, their crews, maintainers, and support personnel, representing the culmination of a 3½-decade journey as a CAP cadet and an Air Force noncommissioned officer and commissioned officer.
After four years as a cadet, including earning CAP’s Brig. Gen. Billy Mitchell Award, he participated in basic training at Lackland AFB, Texas, and ground radar technical school at Keesler AFB. Mississippi. Over seven years he rose through the enlisted ranks to staff sergeant and was commissioned as a second lieutenant through Air Force Officer Training School at Maxwell AFB. Alabama.
Holmes became a Minuteman III ICBM combat crewmember and later served in alert crewmember, standards and evaluation, and missile crew/system instructor and leadership roles. Before assuming command of the 90th Missile Wing, he served as inspector general for the Air Force Global Strike Command.
Along the way, he completed numerous Air Force and Joint Professional Military Education programs along with achieving magna cum laude laurels in both his undergraduate and graduate space and aerospace education management studies, with two National Security and Strategic Studies master’s degrees.
He was a top-third graduate in his Air Force Squadron Officer School class and is a graduate of the Air University’s Air Command and Staff College and Air War College, National Defense University’s Joint Forces Staff College, and the College of Naval Command and Staff (Mahan Scholar), Naval War College.
After 37 years in Civil Air Patrol, Holmes doesn’t hesitate in declaring that “CAP laid the foundation for who I am today as an Air Force senior leader. I joined because my grandfather was a P-51D Mustang pilot in (World War II) doing bomber escort in the European theater; however, he died three years before I was born, so all my memories of him are stories and picture of him in uniform with his plane.
“That made a huge impression on me,” he said. “I remember when I was in the eighth grade, a friend of mine told me about this thing called ‘CAP,’ and when he told me that he gets to wear the Air Force uniform, march around, and do ‘Air Force”’ stuff, I was all in.
“He didn’t stick it out in CAP, but I did! While I don’t volunteer as much as I’d like, as an adult member, due to my active-duty commitments, I keep my membership current and stay plugged in to the best of my ability.
As for his most memorable experiences as a cadet, Holmes cited “my fellow cadets and friends. I spent more time with them than I did with friends from school or work. They were my true friends … my brothers and sisters, the morale, esprit de corps, the connection we had bonded for life … many of them I’m still close with today.
“But the weekly meetings, drill, encampments! …SAR (search and rescue)! Getting pulled out of school to look for a missing aircraft; that was cool!” he recalled.
“Our squadron was certified for nighttime SAR. Our motto was: ‘We own the night.’”
After nearly 40 years, Holmes said, characteristics CAP instilled in him are still helping shape his military career, including “self-discipline, motivation, drive, grit, passion for leadership, and a bias-for-action, recognizing what needs to get done, developing a plan, and moving out.”
The missile wing commander also shared some advice for CAP cadets and adult members alike.
“Don’t wait to be told what to do, dive right on in,” he said. “What you put into CAP, you reap tenfold.
“Enjoy the CAP experience. You can put a lot of time and effort into CAP and sometimes it can be/feel thankless, but don’t let it feel like a ‘job,’ because it’s more of a calling.
And remember to smile. It just makes everything more enjoyable”_____Lt. Col. Robert DitchEmergency Services OfficerRocky Mountain Region
