New 341st MSG commander energized, excited as ever

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Katrina Heikkinen
  • 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  For Silverpoint, Tenn., born Col. Angel Stout, home is wherever the Air Force decides to send her.

Stout arrived at Malmstrom just six weeks ago, but has already made the adjustments to this Air Force Global Strike Command base as the new 341st Mission Support Group commander with zeal and determination.

"I find my current assignment very energizing," Stout said. "One moment there are civil engineer troops trying to find solutions to the leaking and flooding, then you go over and you find the Logistics Readiness Squadron changing tires to make [vehicles] nuclear ready, then you go to the Communication Squadron and they make sure all the computers we take for granted are working, then I have folks over in contracting making sure we have a caterer in the Grizzly Bend club. Those are completely different categories and I find it exciting to be dealing with all of these things."

Stout joins the 341st following four tours at Maxwell Air Force base, Ala., where she was a student at Air War College and an instructor at Air Staff and Command College. She later served as the vice commandant and commandant of Officer Training School.

Prior to that, the commander was tasked as an instructor at the Ethiopian Defense Force Command and Staff College from May to September 2008.

"I went to Ethiopia to help set up their own professional military education school for officers," she said. "In my off time, I would work in different mission efforts to help feed people. It was a life- changing event for me because I saw the true poverty there and it made me thankful to have what I have: food, healthcare, education."

With a background deeply imbedded in education, the daughter of two Air Force members and a sibling to a graduate of the Air Force Academy- like herself, this colonel is quick to emphasize the need for all Airmen to pursue higher education.

"I try to pitch that PME and education is so critical to the development of all Airmen," Stout said. "Whether it's NCO academy or Air War College, the Air Force sends people to go to these schools for a reason; it develops you. The Air Force benefits and the individual becomes a better contributor because of it. I think that's why the Air Force is one of the best services- because we value the education of our troops."

Her career has included a variety of space and missile operations assignments, including crew and instructor time in both the Peacekeeper ICBM weapon systems, and the 1st Command and Control space surveillance mission. She served on the staff of Headquarters Air Force Space Command, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, 20th Air Force, and Air Command and Staff College.

Now a member of Malmstrom's team, this commander's first impression of her newest assignment has been nothing but positive.

"There's so much diversity here," she said. "The men and women at Malmstrom Air Force base and within the Great Falls community have been very welcoming and I am thankful to be here."