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Lieutenant Colonel Ryck Cayer relinquished command of the 219th RED HORSE Squadron to Lieutenant Colonel Rusty Vaira during a ceremony on Saturday afternoon.

Cayer will be leaving the unit to assume command of the 120th Fighter Wing Civil Engineering Squadron.

"It's an engineer unit like this unit is, but a different mission," Cayer said. "So I'm excited to jump in with both feet and execute that mission as well."

Lt. Col. Cayer said the transition to the new unit will take some time.

He said first and foremost he will get to know the leadership of the new squadron and will also have to attend some schooling.

Cayer said he's looking forward to the challenge that awaits him, and knows he will be leaving RED HORSE in good hands with Lt. Col. Vaira, who has been with the squadron since 2001.

"With the responsibility of becoming commander, I have also the privilege of taking over an organization that I've had the opportunity to work with," Vaira said. "So I know the ins and outs of what's good and what's bad, and what needs to be fixed."

Vaira is now responsible to organize, train and equip the RED HORSE Squadron, a unit that is ready to deploy worldwide within 72 hours of notification.

And if you've ever wondered what RED HORSE means: Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineer (learn more here).