Brig. Gen. Henry Harder Jr., assistant adjutant general of the Vermont Air National Guard, will take command of the unit from Brig. Gen. Steven Lambrecht during a ceremony June 3 at the Air Guard base in South Burlington. Following the change of command ceremony, a retirement ceremony will be held for Lambrecht.
In his current role, Harder is responsible for preparing, implementing and administering plans, policies and programs for more than 1,100 Air National Guard members in Vermont. As commander, he will oversee the guard's personnel, administration, training, operation, recruiting, retention and budgetary matters.
Harder received his commission in 1989 after graduating from the University of Vermont He is a command pilot with over 3,000 hours of military flying, the majority in the F-16; his flying time includes over 330 hours of combat time in four separate tours in operations in and over Iraq.