By Natela Cutter
Col. Stephanie Kelley, DLIFLC assistant commandant, Lt. Col. Jaclyn Deroush, former commander of the 314th Training Squadron, and Lt. Col. Joseph Ladymon, current commander of the 314th TS, stand at attention during a change of command ceremony held at the Presidio of Monterey June 17, 2020. (Photo by Natela Cutter)
Lt. Col. Jaclyn Deroush relinquished command of the 314th Training Squadron to Lt. Col. Joseph Ladymon during a change of command ceremony atop Munakata Hall at the Presidio of Monterey, California, June 17.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ceremony was carried out with precaution and the implementation of social distancing measures. Certain segments of the event were prerecorded to prevent direct contact, and to enable staff, students and family members to watch the ceremony live online.
“Jayce is as tough as nails, don’t be fooled by her small stature,” said Defense language Institute Foreign Language Center Assistant commandant Col. Stephanie Kelley, who is also commander of the 517th Training Group. Kelley commended Deroush for her outstanding service as commander of more than 700 airmen who are studying a foreign language at one of the toughest schools in the military.
Among Deroush’s accomplishments was the support she provided for the writing and updating of the Persian Farsi curriculum by providing professional airmen linguists from the field to help as subject matter experts. Deroush’s squadron was recognized as the squadron of the year for 2019 with an increase in graduation proficiency rates: 76 distinguished graduates, 33 academic awards and 107 Associate of Arts degrees in foreign language.
Deroush received the Meritorious Service Medal, first oak leaf cluster from DLIFLC’s assistant commandant.
In her final remarks to the squadron, Deroush thanked her airmen and said, “You have empowered me as I watched you grow and I am excited to see where you will go…you have risen to every challenge,” she said, adding, “Together we are stronger and thank you for doing great things.”
Officially taking command of the 314th Training Squadron, Ladymon thanked organizers of the event and said he will have “ginormous shoes to fill,” adding that celebratory events will have to wait for a post COVID-19 time.
Deroush will be going to training before being assigned as assistant air attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia. Though not a DLIFLC graduate, Deroush studied Russian and German in college.
The 314th and 311th Training Squadrons are part of the U.S. Air Force 517th Training Group, which develops and instills Air Force values in airmen while they train to become linguists at DLIFLC.
