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SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. - Former fighter pilot, Cmdr. Lowen B. Loftin, Navy Reserve, assumed command of the Navy Reserve Element of U. S. Transportation Command's Joint Transportation Reserve Unit in a ceremony here on Dec. 4. Attending the ceremony, presided over by Air Force Reserve Brig. Gen. David Post, JTRU commander, were Loftin's wife, Laura, their sons, Trey, Christopher and Leigh, his in-laws, Tommy and Mary Emma Barham, and his aunt, Frances Loftin Thrasher. Loftin relieved Capt. Mark Leavitt as the commanding officer of the Navy and Marine Corps Reserve personnel assigned to the JTRU, the first Department of Defense-authorized "joint" reserve unit. The JTRU provides U. S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) with the highly skilled personnel it needs from the reserve components of all the services. One of the U.S. military's 10 combatant commands, USTRANSCOM provides common-user and commercial air, land, and sea transportation, terminal management, and aerial refueling to support the global deployment, employment, sustainment and redeployment of U.S. forces. As the Department of Defense Distribution Process Owner, USTRANSCOM directs and supervises the execution of the distribution system and develops and implements distribution process improvements. The sailors Loftin will command are mostly experts in the areas of logistics, transportation, supply and distribution. A former F/A 18 Hornet pilot with a career spent in Navy combat aviation units, Loftin understands the unique challenges he faces in mastering his new assignment. "I feel that my greatest challenge will be learning as much as possible about the skills and capabilities of this varied group of sailors," said Loftin, "and the missions and requirements of our supported commands to ensure that I am providing both groups the support they need to accomplish their mission with maximum effectiveness." Loftin, a native of Baton Rouge, La., and a graduate of Louisiana State University, says his approach to understanding his personnel - and they him - will be to focus on their similar experiences, rather than the differences. "The message I would like my troops to take away today," Loftin said, "is that as a long-time reservist who has commuted to every unit I've been in over the past 11-plus years, I am intimately familiar with the sacrifices they make each and every day, taking time away from their family, friends and civilian employers to serve the nation - and I respect and appreciate that." Highlights of Loftin's career include assignments as commanding officer, Fighter Attack Squadron VFA-204; two Persian Gulf deployments with Carrier Air Wing 5 onboard USS Independence; deployment with Carrier Air Wing Reserve 20 immediately after September 11, 2001, onboard USS Nimitz and Reserve Component Commander, Training Air Wing Two, Naval Air Station Kingsville, Texas. Loftin has accumulated more than 2800 hours of flight time, including 2200 in the F/A-18 Hornet as well as 244 career arrested landings. His personal awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal (Strike Flight), Navy Achievement Medal and various unit and service awards. A resident of Southlake, Texas, Loftin is a Dallas/Ft Worth-based First Officer for American Airlines.