A legacy of service, a new chapter for the 944th Fighter Wing

Official Statements

• 944th Fighter Wing, November 8: “An F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-35 Lightning II, F-15E Strike Eagle and A-10 Thunderbolt II lined the ramp outside Hangar 999 at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, on a beautiful November morning. A light breeze moved through the hangar as distinguished visitors, Airmen, families and community partners gathered. A few hours before the 9:44 a.m. start time of the ceremony, a different kind of formation brought the wing together, with an estimated 650 to 700 people assembling on the flight line for two large group photographs, one with the departing commander and another with the incoming commander.

  It was a fitting pair of family portraits for a weekend of celebration and transition.

  On Nov. 8, 2026, Col. Todd D. "Riddler" Riddle relinquished command of the 944th Fighter Wing to Col. Aaron W. "Nacho" Weedman, closing a 32-year military career. The ceremony, presided over by Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Merrill, 10th Air Force commander, followed a weapons load competition the previous day during the wing's unit training assembly weekend.

  For Merrill, the handoff reflected more than a change at the top. Established as a troop carrier group in 1963, the 944th moved to Luke in 1987 and was redesignated as a fighter wing in 1994.

  "The 944th's history is one of evolution, adaptability, and service," Merrill said. "We adapt to what the nation needs. We build relevant combat capability."

  Today, approximately 2,000 personnel support fighter training and operational missions across multiple installations, including Luke Air Force Base, Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, Eglin Air Force Base in Florida and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina. The wing's mission spans F-16, F-35, F-15E and A-10 operations, connecting local training to requirements far beyond Arizona.

  "Its strength is in its people," Merrill said, recognizing the instructors, maintainers, defenders, medics and families behind the mission.

  Riddle brought humor to his farewell. He remembered the step stool colleagues placed behind the podium when he arrived nearly three years earlier, then joked that the wing was finally getting a commander "they can look up to."

  Underneath the humor was a deeply personal goodbye. Riddle recalled growing up in Nebraska as "a little preacher's kid" and a family that gave him the freedom to pursue a dream. He thanked his wife, Sarah, for three decades together and joked that she called their early marriage plans a "bait-and-switch" after he proposed before entering the Air Force.

  But gratitude, not humor, anchored his remarks. He recognized Airmen serving downrange, those returning from deployments and the many people who supported his command through changing demands. "I'm grateful to the 944th. You deserve my best. I hope I've been worthy of you," Riddle said.

  He then looked forward.

  "Succession. That's what today is all about," he said, welcoming the fresh energy and perspective he believed Weedman would bring.

  For Weedman, taking command meant returning to a place he once hoped to leave. Born in LaGrange, Kentucky, the 2002 Air Force Academy graduate described an Arizona assignment he initially approached with reluctance.

  "If you send me, I won’t be there," Weedman recalled telling a friend. But after arriving, he said, "I've spent the last 13 years trying not to leave."

  The difference was the people. At Luke and later Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, where he commanded the 924th Fighter Group, he found mentors, colleagues, friends and families who became part of his own family's story. He described maintainers who prepared aircraft with pride, chaplains who stayed beside families in crisis, and local partnerships that made the military community feel like home.

  "Because of all of you, I wanted to be a part of this community," Weedman said.

  He spoke of his wife, Carrie, whom he met at age 12 and asked out on his last day of high school, and of their children. His message was as much about the work of loving and supporting one another as it was about commanding a wing.

  Merrill offered the charge that connected the two commanders' stories.

  "Command is a privilege, but it's also a promise," he said.

  Outside Hangar 999, the two group photographs captured a simple distinction. One commander stood among the Airmen with whom he closed his career, while another stood among those he would now lead. For the 944th, the faces changed at the front of the formation, but the people and mission carried forward.”