Col Justin D. Secrest is the Wing and Installation Commander at the 377th Air Base Wing, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. The wing provides highly trained forces supporting the nuclear enterprise and expeditionary combat forces to combatant commanders. The wing is responsible for installation operations, security, maintenance, medical care, and mission support for 25,000 military and civilian employees, 27,000 retirees, and 20,000 family members who live and work on Kirtland's 52,000 acres. Kirtland is the fifth largest base in the United States Air Force. The wing is the host for 108 mission partners, to include the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center, 58th, and 150th Special Operations Wings, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, Sandia National Laboratories, Space Rapid Capabilities Office, Air Force Research Laboratories, Air Force Inspection Agency, and Air Force Safety Center, in addition to other wing equivalent units. The 377th Air Base Wing also operates the United States only dedicated Intercontinental Ballistic Missile test organization for current and future capabilities of the nation's force. Elite weapons and tactics development and missile test launches are developed and executed locally and at geographically separated locations in Utah and California.
Col Secrest enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1988 and served as a Security Forces Craftsman, Secure Communications Craftsman, and Non-Commissioned Officer Academy Instructor. In 2001, he received a commission through the Air Force Officer Training School and subsequently began his commissioned career as a Security Forces Officer. He went on to various assignments in Air Combat Command, Pacific Air Forces, Air Force Space Command, United States Air Forces in Europe, and Air Force Global Strike Command. He served in positions at multiple levels including flight commander, section commander, logistics officer, wing anti-terrorism officer, wing executive officer, operations officer, squadron commander, wing director of staff, and deputy group commander. Col Secrest also deployed to Camp Bucca, Iraq and served as compound commander as well as officer in charge of detainee visitation. Notably, he served as 886th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron interim commander and oversaw the historic end of the Air Force Security Forces mission inside Iraq’s Theater Internment Facilities. Col Secrest attended the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy where he was assigned to a Nuclear Command Control and Communications systems study and completed a data visualizations concentration. Col Secrest then served as the Chief, Security Forces for Headquarters, Air Force Global Strike Command, Barksdale Air Force Base, LA. In that role, he was responsible for developing and executing physical security policy, plans, and programs for 8 installations, and overseeing training and readiness for 5,800 Security Forces to equip Global Strike units to ensure exceptional readiness and lethality. Prior to his current assignment, Col Secrest was the Commander, 90th Security Forces Group, F.E. Warren Air Force Base, leading six squadrons and a group staff comprised of over 1,300 personnel, a $37M budget and $75M in equipment while also being responsible for Air Force Global Strike Command’s Readiness Training Center.