HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- Colonel Albert Elton assumed command of the 1st Special Operations Group from Col. Dennis Pannell during a ceremony here July 2. 

Colonel Elton comes to the 1 SOG from the Air Force Special Operations Command, where he served as the chief of strategic planning. 

"I know of no better team to lead the 1st Special Operations Group than Buck and Karen (Colonel Elton's wife)," said Col. Greg Lengyel, 1st Special Operations Wing commander. "The Pannell family has set you up for success here. The demands of this job are high and so are the expectations." 

Colonel Elton, a command pilot with more than 4,200 flying hours in various C-130 aircraft, takes command of an operations group consisting of eight squadrons, more than 70 aircraft and more than 1,400 personnel. 

"I'm honored to stand here before you today," Colonel Elton said. "You are truly the most outstanding operations group in the world. We will epitomize the 1 SOW motto of 'quiet professionals.' We need to always make smart decisions and closely look out for one another." 

"The 1 SOG is the most challenging command in existence," Colonel Lengyel said. "Colonel Pannell's leadership was nothing short of spectacular. No other operations group can match what the 1 SOG has done under his command. 

"His Air Commandos unleashed hell on the enemies. They dropped hundreds of thousands of pounds of ammunition. They flew over 11,000 combat sorties. To sum it up in one word: unprecedented." 

Colonel Pannell leaves the 1 SOG to become assessment director at United States Special Operation Command in Tampa. 

Colonel Elton is a 1989 United States Air Force Academy graduate. He was awarded his wings from Undergraduate Pilot Training at Reese Air Force Base, Texas. He held a variety of flying and staff positions at the squadron, group, wing, major command and combatant command levels.