Col. Rickey Oeth is the interim commander of the Great Lakes Region, succeeding Col. Rose Hunt after she was named national executive officer.
Oeth assumed command Aug. 16 during the Civil Air Patrol National Conference in San Antonio.
He had served as region vice commander for operations under Hunt since her command began Jan. 15, 2022. He is also commandant for the Incident Command Staff School for CAP’s National Emergency Services Academy.
Oeth has held numerous positions at the squadron, group, wing, and region levels, including Illinois Wing commander from January 2012-November 2015. He was also that wing’s vice commander, chief of staff, and Group 12 commander, as well as Great Lakes Region chief of staff and vice commander for support.
A CAP member since July 1976, he holds numerous Emergency Services ratings, including Incident Command 1.
Oeth has a master’s in music education from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and a master’s in music in trumpet performance from Southern Illinois University.
In his private career, Oeth retired as technology coordinator for Sparta Community School District #140 in Illinois. He is a technical operations trainer for Leidos at the Defense Information Systems Agency Global Field Command at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. He holds the CompTIA A+, N+, and S+ CompTIA certifications.
Oeth is married to retired U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Teresa Oeth. They have a daughter, Alysha, a doctor of physical therapy; a son, Cody, a cloud engineer; and two grandchildren. _____Lt. Col. Paul HertelDirector of Public Affairs Great Lakes Region
