WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. -- Brig. Gen. Scott Vander Hamm assumed command of the 509th Bomb Wing in a ceremony here Monday morning, transferring the leadership of America's only B-2 wing from Brig. Gen. Robert Wheeler.

Maj. Gen. Floyd Carpenter, 8th Air Force commander, presided over the ceremony, commending the accomplishments of General Wheeler, and challenging General Vander Hamm and the men and women of the 509th to continue the wing's legacy of excellence.

"The spirit of the past lives in us today as we ceaselessly train to exacting standards for a mission we hope never comes but stand at the ready to perform," said General Carpenter. "We cannot know what lies ahead, but if the heritage of this wing gives us a glimpse into the future, Whiteman's unique roll will be at the forefront of every grave decision our nation's leaders make."

Gen. Vander Hamm, formerly the Assistant Deputy Director for Global Operations, Operations Directorate, Joint Staff, at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., supported the Deputy Director for Global Operations, and provided the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff oversight and coordination of worldwide operational matters.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the 509th Bomb Wing, this is an incredible combat unit," said General Vander Hamm moments after accepting the guideon from General Carpenter. "I just came off of a tour working with a number of very senior leaders in the Department of Defense and of the joint staff. I can tell you firsthand, one of the principal tools they rely on to hold any target in the world at risk is the B-2.

"We must be constantly ready, we must be constantly vigilant. Our area of responsibility knows no time zone. It knows no geographical boundary. It is truly the globe," General Vander Hamm added. "As our total force team trains and deploys long-range airpower for the nation, we deliver deterrence, or, the most lethal of effects, if necessary."

A command pilot with more than 4,300 flying hours in the T-37, T-38, B-1, B-2 and B-52, General Vander Hamm is no stranger to Whiteman and the 509th. In 2002, as the 325th Bomb Squadron Commander, he employed the B-2 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and led a team during the initial phases of the operation that destroyed essential leadership and military targets.

General Wheeler leaves Whiteman for U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt AFB, Neb., where he will become the deputy director for nuclear operations.