Sioux City, Iowa -- Iowa Air National Guard Colonel Sonya Finch will take over as the Mission Support Group Commander of 185th Air Refueling Wing at a February change of command ceremony in Sioux City, Iowa during the unit’s February training weekend.
The ceremony will take place on Saturday, February 8, 2020 at 3:00 p.m. in the dining facility at the Sioux City, Iowa based Air Guard facility.
Finch has been a member of the Iowa National Guard since joining as a teenager, serving both in the Iowa Army National Guard and most recently in the Iowa Air National Guard.
The Osceola, Iowa native originally enlisted in the Army National Guard as a member of Iowa’s 34th Army Band in Fairfield where she served for six years before receiving her commission.
Finch was commissioned through the Army ROTC program after graduating from the University of Northern Iowa in 1999.
As a newly commissioned 2nd lieutenant, Finch was trained as an Army helicopter pilot at Fort Rucker, Alabama with an assignment to the 1-113th Air Cavalry in Waterloo, IA. She was initially assigned as a platoon leader and eventually became the commander of E Troop with the 1-113th Cavalry.
Finch became a member of the Iowa Air National Guard in 2005 and attended Air Force Pilot training at Vance Air Force Base in Oklahoma. She served in the 185th as a KC-135 pilot until 2013 when she moved to the 132d Wing in Des Moines to fly the MQ-9 and assist in the Wing’s mission conversion from the F-16. Most recently has been working as the State Director of Staff at Camp Dodge in Johnston, Iowa.
In her new position as the support group commander Finch will be charged with overseeing the numerous and diverse units that are a part of the air wing’s support group; 185th ARW Security Forces, Civil Engineering, Military Personnel and Logistics Readiness Squadrons, also the Communications and Services Flights, as well as the Contracting and Environmental Management offices.