Colonel Fornof now piloting Nevada's Air National Guard Published Feb. 15, 2011 By Maj. April Conway Nevada National Guard Public Affairs RENO, Nev. -- Col. Terry Fornof, former U. S. Air Force Warfare Center director of requirements and testing, took command of the Nevada Air National Guard in mid-January; his formal change of command ceremony occurred at the Reno Air Guard Base Feb. 12. Colonel Fornof now commands more than 1,100 Nevada Air National Guard "High Rollers" in Indian Springs, Las Vegas and Reno. He's a man who's made his own luck and it all started with a cold call. "I was a traditional guardsman in Louisiana and really wanted to find a way to get back to Nevada, so I cold called Maj. Gen. Tony Clark, the state's adjutant general," Colonel Fornof said. At the time, Guard leadership believed Air Force F-15s would be turned over to the Guard and Nevada wanted a piece of the action. "I told him I had a vision of bringing [F-15] Eagles to the Silver State and I was welcomed to the team," said Colonel Fornof. It wasn't just the persuasive conversation that convinced Nevada Guard leadership to make Colonel Fornof a "High Roller;" he also brought a great deal of experience. By 2000, he had recorded 14 years with the active duty, flying five types of aircraft on three continents, and three years as a Louisiana Guard member. Militarily, he was the chief of weapons and tactics at the 159th Fighter Wing in New Orleans and was the F-15 weapons council lead for the Guard. In his civilian occupation, he worked for a defense contractor on helmet-mounted queuing systems at Nellis. Colonel Fornof went to work with the Nevada Air Guard developing a Total Force Integration unit with the USAFWC. He helped the Nevada Guard acquire a few fighter pilot slots and began paving the way for a better total force enterprise between Nellis and the Guard. Colonel Fornof continued to rise in the Nevada Guard and at the USAFWC. He became the deputy group commander for the 57th Adversary Tactics Group, the chief of advanced testing tactics and procedures at the USAFWC and a year ago moved into the acting director position of the joint staff at the Nevada Guard. He will continue working with the USAFWC as the Guard advisor to the USAFWC commander. "Col. Fornof brings a wealth of experience into his position as the new leader of the Nevada Air Guard," said Brig. Gen. Bill Burks, Nevada adjutant general. "I am charging him with the responsibility to continue to lead this organization to even higher readiness standards and to prepare it to accomplish the future missions of the state and the nation." "In years past, the entire Air Force reconnaissance community knew about the 'High Rollers' because they won photo competition after photo competition," Colonel Fornof said. "We're now a more diverse organization with C-130s, a total force enterprise with Nellis and Creech and an unmatched intelligence squadron. There may not be competitions for all of those, but I want Airmen to receive recognition for a job well done. The Nevada Air Guard has the people and the drive to be the best. It's my job to make that happen."
