Brig. Gen. Jason Bailey, incoming commander of the 31st Fighter Wing at Aviano Air Base, Italy. ( Chad Trujillo/U.S. Air Force)
Brig. Gen. Jason Bailey, incoming commander of the 31st Fighter Wing at Aviano Air Base, Italy. ( Chad Trujillo/U.S. Air Force)
Brig. Gen. Jason Bailey, incoming commander of the 31st Fighter Wing at Aviano Air Base, Italy. (Chad Trujillo/U.S. Air Force)
Brig. Gen. Daniel T. Lasica, outgoing commander of the 31st Fighter Wing at Aviano Air Base, Italy. (U.S. Air Force)
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy — Brig. Gen. Jason E. Bailey is scheduled to take command of Aviano’s 31st Fighter Wing during a virtual ceremony Friday, wing officials said.
Bailey takes over command from Brig. Gen. Daniel T. Lasica, who will assume command of the 9th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force-Afghanistan, as well as concurrent leadership roles with NATO and Air Forces Central Command.
Lasica, who arrived at Aviano in June 2018, will now be responsible for the integration of air and space power in support of NATO’s Resolute Support mission.
Bailey returns to Aviano after previously serving as the commander of the 31st Operations Support Squadron, as well as an instructor pilot and chief of wing plans and programs from 2011 to 2013.
Bailey is a 1995 Air Force Academy graduate who has also served overseas as the flight lead and flight commander of the 80th Fighter Squadron, Kunsan Air Base, South Korea; commander of the 455th Expeditionary Operations Group at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan; and commander of the 52nd Fighter Wing at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany.
Bailey will command the only permanently assigned Air Force fighter aircraft wing in NATO’s southern region. With approximately 4,200 active duty military members, nearly 300 U.S. civilians and 700 Italian civilian employees, the wing conducts and supports air combat operations, and maintains munitions for NATO.
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