Davis-Monthan Air Force Base will lose its top two bosses this year, a staff turnover that has some community groups holding their breath. Col. Michael Spencer, the base's wing commander since 2004, is retiring this summer. His vice commander, Col. Michael Isherwood, also will leave Tucson around that time.
Spencer will be replaced by Col. Kent Laughbaum, a Texas native who has been stationed at a U.S. air base in Lakenheath, England, since 1999. Laughbaum, now the operations group commander for Lakenheath's 48th Fighter Wing, lands in Tucson in July or August. There's no formal word yet on who will replace Isherwood or where he's headed.
D-M's two senior leaders oversee more than 6,000 local airmen, about 2,300 of whom are deployed at any time.
Spencer declined to be interviewed about his retirement. Base officials said he prefers to focus on doing his job for the next few months but may make a statement when he leaves.
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D-M normally gets a new wing commander about every two years. The last two commanders — Spencer and his predecessor, then-Col. Larry Stutzriem — were highly familiar with the Tucson base before taking over because both previously had served as vice commanders at D-M.
Laughbaum has never been a wing commander or vice commander and hasn't spent much time in Tucson, according to his biography.
In 1984, he was here for five months for an A-10 training course. He since has held a variety of Air Force jobs, including stints as a fighter squadron commander and a NATO staff officer.
News of Spencer's departure drew lavish praise for his leadership from the D-M 50, a military booster group made up of business and civic leaders.
Michael Harris, the group's president until a few weeks ago, said Spencer will be remembered as a boss who cared deeply about those who worked under him at D-M.
"It was very evident to me that he has a tremendous devotion to the airmen on that base," Harris said, citing Spencer's efforts to upgrade D-M housing and recreation facilities and his support for military families, down to making sure they had safe car seats for their kids.
Harris said change always creates uncertainty about the future, especially with so much turnover at once.
Besides Spencer and Isherwood, at least two other senior leaders also are leaving this year: Col. Cesar Rodriguez, D-M's mission support group commander, and Col. Dewey Holmes, the maintenance group commander.
"It concerns me," Harris said of all the transitions. "It leads to a normal amount of anxiety about who is coming in."
Spencer's leaving also casts a question mark over efforts to reduce the impact of military jet noise and strengthen ties between the base and city residents.
The Military Community Compatibility Committee, which includes more than two dozen neighborhood representatives, military and government advisers and others, has spent much of the past year working on recommendations that should be ready by June.
"We would hope that the new leadership would be committed to better community relations, but right now the situation is unclear," said Tahnee Robertson, mediator for the group.
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