Col. Mahaney reflects on career as he takes command of the 459th ARW

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Andre Bowser
  • 439th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. --  Twenty six years ago, then-2nd Lt. Samuel Mahaney stood in a parking lot of the Missouri University of Science and Technology, and gave a simple answer to a complex question asked by his favorite professor.

"He said, 'Sam, what are you going to do with your life?'" Colonel Mahaney recalled the decades-old conversation. "I told him, 'I'm going to fly bombers."

That he did. For several years after college Colonel Mahaney worked as an electronic warfare officer in B-52s before becoming a pilot. "They were parked out on the ramp alongside KC-135s," he said of the bombers and refuelers that worked side by side in keeping the country safe from nuclear threat.

MILITARY TIES

That role in Colonel Mahaney's career has come around again as he leaves Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass and his position as the 439th Operations Group commander to become the wing commander of the 459th Air Refueling Wing, Joint Base Andrews, Md. The wing is the home of KC-135s similar to the ones he flew along side of at the start of his Air Force career in 1985.

As Col. Mahaney begins his new job, he says he will rely on recent experiences at Westover to gain success in the most pressing challenges he faces: an upcoming operational readiness inspection and nuclear operational readiness inspection.
The inspections looming for Colonel Mahaney's next command come on the heels of success with Westover's recent operational readiness inspection in June. With the 439th Airlift Wing passing its inspection, Colonel Mahaney said he was confident that the same positive result would be achieved by the 459th ARW.

"In any job that I've done, I always used the knowledge and expertise of those already in place by working with those individuals," he said.

Colonel Mahaney said he took a note from the page of Major Gen. James Rubeor: "I learned from General Rubeor that if you take care of your people, they take care of the mission."

That adopted philosophy has served him in the short time he has been with the 439th Airlift Wing, he said. So much that he has been promoted to the position of wing commander a lot faster than he initially anticipated.

"They told me to expect to be at Westover for two, possibly three years," Colonel Mahaney said of his time that was a lot closer to one year. "This was a surprise, and as a result it's a great honor."

Moving forward, Colonel Mahaney said he expected to continue focusing on people at his next command. "My main job is to provide for the wing's success," he said.

SCHOOL TIES
After graduating fro
m college with a Bachelor's of Arts degree in history in 1985, Colonel Mahaney went on to complete a Master's degree from Troy University in 1988, as well as a Jurist Doctorate degree from St. Louis University in 2000. He is a licensed lawyer and has worked as an adjunct professor for the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. He also served tours as a Harvard National Security Fellow, Georgetown Capitol Hill Fellow, and Congressional Liaison, among other accomplishments.

But above all, Colonel Mahaney acknowledges his humble beginnings in Missouri, grounded in family spread between the towns of Cuba and St. James, as helping him grow in his career as a military officer.

Colonel Mahaney said he learned the value of an honest day's work when he was in high school in Missouri. "I spent my high school years bucking hay bales and playing football and baseball," he said.

Colonel Mahaney said he was inspired to join the Air Force after meeting a retired officer, Vincent Carpenter, in St. James. He said the man owned a farm about a half mile from where he grew up.

"I spent many days listening to his stories about Air Force life," Colonel Mahaney said. "His wife and family were just so wonderful -- it made me want to be a part of the Air Force."

After finishing college, Colonel Mahaney said he entered the Air Force as an officer with a simple plan: "When I was a Second Lieutenant and a First Lieutenant, I never thought I'd be a wing commander; back then, I didn't have a sense of what would come; of course, I knew I was going to be an officer and a leader."

He explained that his aspirations were simple: do the job at hand. "Do the best job I can at the job I'm doing, and let those appointed over me figure out what's next," he said.

That straightforward philosophy and his humble roots helped him build a military and educational career that netted him an honorary professional degree in history from his alma mater-- a feat framed by his favorite professor as a rare accomplishment.
Dr. Larry Gragg, a former professor of Colonel Mahaney who know chairs the Department of History and Political Science at Missouri University of Science and Technology, said he recalled his informal career counseling sessions all those years ago with a much younger version of the colonel.

"I was intensely interested in him because he was from St. James -- small-town America -- and most young people from small-town America have pretty limited horizons and tend not to have big dreams," Dr. Gragg said. "However, Sam did."

Dr. Gragg said Colonel Mahaney was one of only three graduates from his degree program to receive honorary professional degrees from the university.

"He had a compelling sense of what he wanted to do with his life and he followed through in a wonderful way; whether one looks at his great success in the Air Force or in earning a law degree and teaching law, Sam has had a singularly remarkable career."

Dr. Gragg said he nominated Colonel Mahaney for the honorary degree because of the example he set for other graduates from the university with similar small-town backgrounds.

When asked about his future career goals, Colonel Mahaney said he just wants to keep empowering his people to do the best job they possibly can in excelling at their mission. When asked about life after the military, he said he has more than once considered continuing his public service by running for Congress in his home state of Missouri.

"It's one of those things I always considered after I retire from the military," he said.

FAMILY TIES
Colonel Mahaney is married to Christine Ann Mahaney. They have been married since 1985. Col Mahaney has one daughter, Jessica, a son-in-law, Jacob, a son, Sam Jr, and two granddaughters, Brooklynn and Letty.

The highly decorated military leader attributed much of his success in the Air Force to his wife, who he calls: "Chris Incredible."

"In many of our assignments, she has taken on a leadership role by ensuring the needs of the families of those serving under me were taken care of," Colonel Mahaney said. "She has never complained and has never failed - she is my best friend."

Colonel Mahaney said his military career, and the military careers of many of his family members, were chronicled by his mother, Sharon Pilkenton. Before she died from cancer in 2011, she created a wall of honor in her home where she showcased the military service of Colonel Mahaney; his grandfather, Walt Holt, who served in the Army during World War II; his nephew Josh Pilkenton; his son Samuel Mahaney Jr., who is currently attending Marine Corps Officer Candidate School; his brother, Rick Pilkenton, who served in the Missouri National Guard; and his brother-in-law Ray Massey, an Army Bronze Star recipient.