Brig. Gen. Steven Vautrain pins on first star

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Andre Bowser
  • 439th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
WESTOVER AIR RESERVE BASE, Mass. --  When the 439th Airlift Wing commander was ceremonially promoted to brigadier general Feb. 8, he was surrounded by fellow flag officers at what could best be described as a star-studded affair.

But Brig. Gen. Steven Vautrain equated the crowd gathered to honor him as his family, old and dear friends, and then he turned the spotlight on the nearly legion of members who serve on his base.

"It's about we the people... It's not just about me," Brig. Gen. Vautrain said in the Base Hangar on a stage with an Olympic-sized flag behind it. "I would not be here today without the work that you do--and that goes for Airmen, other servicemembers and civilians, alike."

Maj. Gen. Richard Haddad, the vice commander of the Air Force Reserve Command, who officiated the promotion ceremony, summated the feat of entering the ranks of flag officers to joining a family that you'd really always been a part of. "Getting to this level in the United States Air Force is a team effort," he said, pointing to the numerous flag officers in attendance, who had directed Brig. Gen. Vautrain's career and seen in him star qualities. "It's all about relationships: There are also representatives from other branches of service here and they are part of that relationship, as well; team Westover, with its many great Airmen--and it's not just the people in uniform, it's the civilians, too."

In the audience, several members of Brig. Gen. Vautrain's family watched as his one-star flag was unfurled; he thanked his various mentors from among the flag ranks, and then seemingly saving the best for last, he nodded to his family.

"Patty --a big supporter of my military career--you've always been a supportive and loving sister," Brig. Gen. Vautrain said before turning his full attention to his wife. "Katie... you are my anchor... we are a team and I could not have done this without you."

Brig. Gen. Vautrain's sister, Patricia Donovan, said after the promotion ceremony that she believed her gregarious brother was inspired to join the military by their father, who was a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Coast Guard. But she said instead of taking to the water, he aspired to the air.

"I could tell that it was something he wanted to do when he was growing up: He really wanted to fly planes," Donovan said of her brother, who is a T-37, T-38, C-130, MC-130, C-17 and C-5 rated command pilot. "I'm just so proud of him."