Command

Commander

Col Jonathan W Lartigue

Col Jonathan W. Lartigue has been a senior member of Civil Air Patrol for nearly 15 years and has served at the squadron, wing, region, and national levels of CAP.  He is a level 1 incident commander, a mission pilot, and has taught for the Mission Aircrew School at the National Emergency Services Academy and at the Cadet Aviation Ground School.  He has served on many notable CAP missions including the responses for the Deepwater Horizon disaster and Hurricanes Michael, Florence, and Matthew.  In addition to his other duties, he currently serves on the national aerospace education staff as a STEM kit coordinator.

Col Lartigue holds Doctor of Philosophy and Masters degrees in Computer Science and Software Engineering from Auburn University.  He has worked for much of his career in the defense and aerospace industries, was one of the world's first developers of mobile Apps, and has taught as an assistant professor of software engineering.  He is an FAA certified private pilot, remote pilot, advanced ground instructor, and instrument ground instructor.

You can contact Col Lartigue at JLartigue@iawg.cap.gov

Vice Commander

Lt. Col. Jason Steven Erickson

Lt. Col. Jason S. Erickson is the Chief Operating Officer of ThinkSpace IT/SIPspace and currently serves as both Iowa Wing's Vice Commander and Director of Cadet Programs.

Lt. Col. Erickson has been a member of the Iowa Wing for more than 12 years. He has been instrumental in restarting Iowa Wing's cadet encampment, the Wing cadet advisor council, and in standing up the Southwest Iowa Composite Squadron. He has lead and served in many activities, events, and duty positions throughout the state.

Working with cadet programs is a passion for Lt. Col. Erickson, and he enjoys seeing cadets thrive when as their grow their skills in leadership, character, and public speaking. Iowa Wing's cadet program, under his leadership, has evolved greatly and despite the COVID-19 pandemic has grown over the past two years.

As an information technology expert, he has also been instrumental in moving Iowa Wing's IT infrastructure to a the Office 365 platform, standardized the wing's website to present a unified online presence, and fostered the adoption of multiple low-cost technology solutions that have improved the wing's IT capabilities.

Lt. Col. Erickson is a recipient of the Presidential Disaster Relief Ribbon, a Region Commander's Commendation, and was named Cadet Programs Officer of the Year for the North Central Region. He is a lifelong lover of aviation, currently a student pilot, and will soon take his private pilot checkride.

Chief of Staff

Lt. Col. Michael "Sean" McClanahan

Lt Col Sean McClanahan has been a member of CAP since February, 2014, and joined Iowa Wing in January 2022. He began his CAP career in the Delaware Wing, where he served in leadership roles at the wing level in Communications, Emergency Services, and Operations. He was also the Squadron Commander for the Delaware Legislative Squadron and Deputy Commander for Seniors for the Coastal Patrol Base 2 Memorial Composite Squadron. While serving in Delaware Wing, Lt Col McClanahan obtained his Mission Observer rating, his Incident Command 2 rating, and was responsible for the planning and development of several multi-agency exercises. He is currently the acting Communications Training Officer for the North Central Region, CAP, and operates one of three Message Center Stations for the North Central Region, CAP.

Lt Col McClanahan works in the field of Information Security Compliance and lives with his family in north-central Iowa. You can contact Lt Col McClanahan at smcclanahan@iawg.cap.gov.

Command NCO

CMSgt Paul E Wallace

Chief Master Sergeant Paul E Wallace serves the Iowa Wing as Command NCO, Assistant Director of Operations, and Maintenance Officer. He is also an Orientation Pilot, sUAS Check Pilot, and aircrew member.

Chief Master Sergeant Paul E Wallace is the Superintendent, 455th Expeditionary Operations Group, Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. The group includes close air support; combat search and rescue and personnel recovery; intra-theater air mobility; electronic attack; and aeromedical evacuation in support of Operation FREEDOM’S SENTINEL and RESOLUTE SUPPORT missions. He is the senior enlisted advisor to the Operations Group Commander on all matters affecting combat operations, health, morale, welfare, discipline and effective utilization of over 350 Total Force Airmen assigned to six squadrons at Bagram Airfield.

You can contact CMSgt Wallace at PWallace@iawg.cap.gov