EDWARDS ROCKET LAB CEREMONY MARKS COMMAND CHANGE.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - Lt. Col. Joseph Boyle, who began his Air Force career 22 years ago at the rocket laboratory at Edwards, returned to his old stomping grounds Thursday, this time to take the reins as commander.

Boyle took command from Col. Wesley Cox, who retired from the Air Force after 23 years. Boyle and Cox were honored in a ceremony before a couple hundred guests.

``It's a dream come true,'' Boyle said after the ceremony. ``This organization is world class. I'm talking close to Nobel laureate kinds of guys and gals here.''

Cox, the commander at the rocket laboratory since June 1998, said he'd wanted to get involved with rockets since the days of the Sputnik satellite and the beginning of the space race in the late 1950s.

``Thanks to this assignment, I can say I lived the dream,'' Cox said.

As commander, Boyle will oversee a laboratory that covers 65 square miles and has more than 250 scientists, engineers, technicians and support staffers. The laboratory has developed virtually every rocket propulsion system in the nation's inventory, including those that powered the Apollo moon missions.

After graduating with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Norwich University in Vermont, Boyle was assigned to the rocket laboratory in July 1979 as a project manager in the liquid rocket division.

Boyle's career has included stints as the technical liaison for Air Force rocket technology to various federal agencies in Washington, D.C., and he has conducted research in Munich, Germany, for lightning protection for rocket motor cases.

His resume also includes two other tours at Edwards working for the Air Force Flight Test Center. During those periods he worked on the B-2 stealth bomber program and, his most recent assignment, on the F-22 fighter program as deputy for engineering.

Cox is leaving the Air Force after a career that has included assignments developing plans for ground test facilities for aerodynamics and propulsion research, teaching courses such as experimental aerodynamics at the Air Force Institute of Technology, and briefing senior Pentagon officials on foreign space and missile issues.

At his last assignment before Edwards, Cox was a missile technology adviser for technology exports for the State Department in Washington, D.C.

Cox plans to pursue a civilian post in the arms technology export control arena in Washington.

At his retirement, Cox was awarded the Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal for his work assisting the Orange Empire Railway in Perris, Calif. and for volunteering as a range safety officer for the Edwards Rod and Gun Club.

Cox was also presented with a certificate of appreciation from President George W. Bush and an American flag that was flown above the nation's Capitol and over the rocket laboratory.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Major Gen. Doug Pearson, left, hands the change-of-command flag to Lt. Col Joseph Boyle, who is replacing Col. Wesley Cox, right, as head of the Edwards rocket lab.

(2 -- color) - Lt. Col. Joseph Boyle

(3) Tech. Sgt. Jose Barraza, left, and the rest of the Edwards Air Force Base Blue Eagle Color Guard attend to their duties Thursday at the change-of-command ceremony.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer