North Bend Native Takes Command of New York Air National Guard Air Defense Squadron

RecordStaffJune 4, 2020Last Updated: June 4, 2020

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Lt. Col. Steven H. Rathmell, right, salutes 224th Air Defense Group Commander Col. Paul Bishop, left, during the 224th Air Defense Squadron’s May 27 virtual change-of-command ceremony. Rathmell took command from Col. Joseph Roos, center, who became the 224th ADG Commander on Thursday. 224th ADS Chief Enlisted Manager, Chief Master Sgt. Mark Armitage, is pictured holding the ADS guidon. The traditional guidon exchange was eliminated from the ceremony due to COVID-19 health concerns. Photo by Tim Jones, 224th Air Defense Group Public Affairs.

ROME, N.Y – Lt. Col. Steven H. Rathmell, a North Bend native, became of the Commander of the 224th Air Defense Squadron on May 27 during a ceremony at the Eastern Air Defense Sector.

Rathmell took command from Col. Joseph Roos, who later became the 224th Air Defense Group Commander. Due to the COVID-19 health restrictions, the change-of-command ceremony was conducted virtually with attendance limited to immediate family and ceremonial participants.

A graduate of Bucktail Area High School and Lock Haven University, Rathmell joined the Pennsylvania Air National Guard in May 1994. Shortly after enlisting, he attended officer training at the Academy of Military Science, McGhee-Tyson Air National Guard Base, Tenn., where he received his commission in November 1994.

After graduating from Air Weapons Controller training at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. the following January, Rathmell was assigned to the New York Air National Guard’s Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS).

Since joining the Sector, Rathmell has held multiple combat crew qualifications to include Air Weapons Officer, Senior Director and Mission Crew Commander. Following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, he directed and controlled joint and allied forces flying combat air patrols and airborne early warning missions over major U.S. cities.

Rathmell deployed several times from 2003 to 2005 to the Joint Air Defense Operations Center in Washington D.C., where he served as a sector liaison officer supporting the Army’s ground-based air defense of the National Capitol Region (NCR). While serving as Assistant Chief, Standardizations and Evaluations from 2005 to 2007, he played a key role in transitioning the Northeast Air Defense Sector into the Eastern Air Defense Sector, doubling the Sector’s size, scope and responsibility.

Lt. Col. Rathmell has served in a variety of key positions at EADS, including Chief, Weapons and Tactics, Flight Commander, Chief, Standardization and Evaluations, and Assistant Director of Operations. He was trained at the 601st Air Operations Center in Tyndall AFB, Fla. as a Senior Air Defense Officer (SADO) and received the highest “exceptionally qualified” rating. Immediately following the destruction of Tyndall Air Force Base by Hurricane Michael in 2018, he deployed numerous times in support of the 601st Air Operation Center’s continuity of operations’ efforts.

Lt. Col. Rathmell is an experienced Air Battle Manager with more than 30,000 mission crew hours conducting the Sector’s air defense mission.

The 224th ADG is composed of the 224th Air Defense Squadron and 224th Support Squadron, located in Rome, and Detachment 1 and Detachment 2 that serve in the Washington, D.C. area. The 224th ADG provides the forces to conduct the Eastern Air Defense Sector’s (EADS) mission. Part of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the Sector is responsible for the air defense of the eastern U.S.