New Hill AFB Commander Brings Experience In Diversity & Inclusion

HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah – Hill Air Force Base has a new colonel in command of its 75th Air Base Wing, and she comes to Utah with a unique background in supporting diversity.

Col. Jenise Carroll was sworn in as the new commander of the 75th Air Base Wing at Hill Air Force Base last month.

Carroll comes to Utah from the Pentagon, where she focused on diversity and inclusion.

Welcome to Team Hill! ICYMI – The 75th Air Base Wing welcomed a new commander during a change of command ceremony at Hill Air Force Base July 23. Col. Jenise M. Carroll assumed command of the wing from Col. Jon A. Eberlan. https://t.co/s07NvVejdq

— Hill Air Force Base (@HAFB) July 28, 2020

And with the F-35 being a major part of our nation’s fleet, Carroll takes command at the 75th fighter wing at an important time.

Her group supports those pilots and helps with many other missions at the base.

“Normally, the units I’ve commanded before have been largely military units. So when it comes to inspiring the next generation, my focus there was military,” Carroll said.

Now she will be working with civilians and contractors, but Carroll said her diversity and inclusion experiences will be put to use here in Utah.

“We were looking at many things cross the Department of Defense and right now as our nation is looking at starting a dialogue with all things racial and the racial disparity, inclusion, opportunity — it’s all about the dialogue,” she said.

Carroll added she brings valuable experience as a listener. As an advisor at the Pentagon to the Director of Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity, she said the focus most recently was on listening.

“It’s really about breaking down the barriers, ‘How do you feel? How do you feel about the current state of the environment?’” she said.

Not only in discussions about diversity, but in how a pandemic has changed the environment, making it more difficult for people to connect.

“Because when we look at how we were doing business last year this time, it was totally different. There was a lot of interaction. There’s a lot of human connectivity,” Carroll said.

Without that connection, Carroll said it’s even more important now to let people know they are heard and they have the opportunity to speak up.

“It’s important to have that inclusiveness and have a dialogue going forward about how can we move forward together as a nation,” Carroll said. “That’s what’s important.”

She added all of this is only one piece of her greater goal — to inspire the next generation.

The 75th air base wing provides support for more than 1,700 facilities that employ more than 21,000 people.