5th Bomb Wing
Commander
The Lamarand family, Col. Jesse Lamarand, spouse Natalie and daughters Kamryn (26) and Eva (13) arrived in Minot in June.
Kamryn would stay for the change of command ceremony but has not lived with the family since her graduation from Colorado State University. “Kamryn was very impressed with the area” says Col. Lamarand “and is looking forward to coming back and visiting. She’s a veterinary technician in Vernfield, Colorado.” Col Lamarand says that daughter Eva is his best friend, and they share special interests like soccer and just hanging out. Eva will be an 8th grader and will spend one year at Memorial Middle School on base. Next year she hopes to transition to Minot North.
The Lamarand family has been through many schools, and that’s always a concern according to Col Lamarand. But “there are a lot of positives. My oldest (Kamryn) said that being a military child actually helped her in college. It taught her to become pretty independent pretty early. Some of those parents out there who are concerned, give them a chance, they’ll surprise you. I have, of course, the 3 basic needs of food, water & shelter, but I consider education to be the 4th critical need. Ensuring that my children have the best opportunities for education. Not just STEM. I am talking about liberal arts, language…and I am talking about music and about sports. All of that has to be a comprehensive program within a local school district in order for them to succeed and get the good grades from my perspective” says Col Lamarand “and not all schools can do that. From what I’ve seen and heard so far Minot schools fit the youth very, very well in taking care of kids that are on base and off base.”
The family would not be complete without the person that Col Lamarand describes as “the perfect mother and the perfect base spouse. “She is always concerned for other military families” Col Lamarand says of Natalie “and she strives to take care of them.” Erin Beene will have an interview with both Natalie Lamarand and Monica Schlabach in next week’s Northern Sentry.
Our sit down interview took place just 5 weeks after Col Lamarand took command of the 5th Bomb Wing. The time he shared with the Northern Sentry was much appreciated, and the answers to my questions were comprehensive.
It’s been 5 short weeks, but how has the transition gone so far?
“Well to be honest” says Col Lamarand “it’s been overwhelming. An incredible and heartwarming experience both on the base side of the house and also the folks in the community”. Of course, being the Wing Commander will bring a lot of special moments like a greeting at the gate when I arrive, but along with that are familiar faces that continue to make me, and my family, feel welcome. You know, the smiles of the new Airmen in the parking lot, they are excited to be here” according to Lamarand “and so are we. I’m originally from Michigan, so it’s good to get back up north…all 4 seasons, lower humidity, quite a bit more isolated obviously; but the people who live and work here more than make up for that.”
“And on the community side of the house, I think I’ve gotten to know the community well. We had the North Dakota State Fair and leading up to that the 4th of July and the State Fair parades” said Lamarand “we’ve had several dinners hosted by folks, and then there’s the business community, the Mayor (Tom Ross), civic leaders and Task Force 21 and senior representatives; across the board they’ve all opened their arms to me and my family. And I have seen that every day.”
Can we review some of the comments you made at a recent Military Affairs Committee meeting. They were certainly interesting to those non-military folks like me in attendance.
Col Lamarand: Currently, it is probably the most complex and dangerous environment that we have seen in a decade. We have multiple conflicts around the globe; both political and military; the world is at a precipice and tipping point right now. Israel, Hamas, the Gaza Strip, it’s not just the big players that are affecting war there. There are a lot of smaller groups that like to take advantage of weaknesses and misdirection, so, a spark within a fully tinderized environment can expand that. For example, in Russia/Ukraine, a second hot spot. Over the past couple of days Ukraine has made some significant territorial gains against Russia.
Over the past year, it’s been a little bit of a stalemate. Russia had tried to do a spring offensive earlier this year and didn’t make many gains. Now that Ukraine is making gains, that backs Russian into the corner. So, what do you do when you are backed into a corner? You lash out and do things that are a little unexpected. That is a reason why right now it feels quite a bit hotter than it’s ever been. Now that the Olympics are over, because the Olympics have always been somewhat of a unifying force around the planet, the focus will go back on the economics and the trade issues we’ve been having, and the supply chain issues we’ve been having. What you’ll see is more cooperation between our adversaries, more than what we’ve seen in the past. While we are isolated, we are the most strategic and important Air Force base in the U.S. arsenal. So, if something happens, it will have an affect here, no doubt.
So, from an outside perspective it seems like there is a lot more activity now with the bombers and the 5th BW?
Col Lamarand: You are spot on. The bomber is the visible leg of the nuclear triad, but it’s also the visible leg of conventional and kinetic power. So, when you have a hot spot in Iran, when you had a senior leader of Hamas killed in Tehran and Iran says that we are going to reciprocate at some point, or North Korea continues on its path of oppressing its people and building more weapons; one of the most effective ways to send a message is to fly bombers, specifically the B-52, because it’s dual capable, into that area. What you are seeing is that when the enemy is doing something that we are not comfortable with, we will send bombers, and we’ll park them within striking range, and it absolutely changes the decision calculus of the enemy, which is why you are seeing a bit more movement with the bombers.
On the friendly side of the house, you are seeing more movement of the bombers because of what we call agile combat employment. It’s a strategy that the United State Air Force is re-invigorating in order to ensure what we like to call making multiple dilemmas for our enemy. If we can move fighters, and tankers to more air bases, faster, we are capitalizing on the principle of war called movement and maneuver. It also complicates the security of the enemy. We present them more targets, targets that can move and be effective in different locations around the planet and can project combat power faster and stay inside of their targeting and decision movement.
So, that’s why you are seeing more movement from bombers, specifically at this base. On the missile wing side of the house, they are going through a difficult and much needed transition from Minuteman III to Sentinel. Outwardly, you aren’t moving missiles around, but inwardly the amount of time it takes to properly manage, maintain, and ensure those aging weapon systems are viable is astronomical. Couple that with bringing the most complex upgrade in weapons systems in history on top of that, you’ll see a lot more activity. Two ingredients make up deterrence. Capability and credibility. If we don’t have the credibility, if we don’t have the willpower and if we don’t have a base that can support the Airmen that need to project on that power, then we don’t have the capability and our enemies can see right through us. They’ll know that we don’t have the capability.
We have to ensure that with new weapon systems while we are at a time of peace. We are building the capability necessary here with the new buildings, new structures, and newer capabilities in order to project power 4 years, 5 years, 6 years into the future. You make investments now to ensure peace in the future. The best way to be prepared and ensure peace is to be prepared for war, and you are seeing that happen at Minot Air Force Base.
Is Minot Air Force Base on a faster pace?
Col Lamarand: Yes, absolutely. We have more world threats to respond to than we have had in the past. We’ve had to change the way we operate the B-52s in order to make them a bit more agile. And then at the same time, it’s an aging aircraft, so there are problems with maintaining it and flying it, and with certain components that break, that weren’t breaking in the past. It’s creating more difficulties fixing the aircraft on the ground. So yes, it is a faster pace on all levels.
There are many more threats to the base than there were in the past. Just because Minot is in the middle of nowhere, so to speak, doesn’t mean that it is safe from our enemies. We have a higher cyberspace and space threat than we’ve ever had before. And we also have an increasing unmanned aerial system threat to the base. It’s getting easier and cheaper for people to park outside of the base, just a couple of miles away and probe defenses with unmanned aerial systems. We have to be ready for those types of threats. We also have to be on our guard. Our enemy is always probing us.
Col Lamarand: They have overwhelmingly exceeded my expectations. I’ve never seen a community so connected, and so selfless in the way that they embrace the Airmen and embrace leadership and embrace not just the local challenges that they have here, but the national challenges. Coming in here myself and Col Schlabach spent 6 hours with the North Dakota State Military Commission focusing on how we can make the military connection stronger, how we can support the military within this state.
Task Force 21 meets regularly. These are local citizens that have regular jobs, but outside of that they take extra time out of their day and their evenings with their families to study the operational and strategic environments, to figure out how we can best meet the enemy. They don’t have to be there. The military is not paying them. They do it out of the love and kindness of their own heart. They raise money for Airmen to go home for the Holidays. And then there’s the Prairie Warrior Auction which raises thousands of dollars to benefit the Airmen and their families at Minot Air Force Base…I’ve just never experienced the support that they give, and it’s really, really genuine.
Military Appreciation days, my wife and I went to the Hot Tots game and really enjoyed the military folks there connecting with the community, and the appreciation they have for us. And let me tell you, we appreciate them just as much. We hope that we can add to and enrich their lives in the short time we are here at Minot Air Force Base. They really have exceeded my expectations. I love ‘em to death and want to thank them every opportunity I get.
