HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah -- Col. Chris Gough assumed command of the Utah Test and Training Range during a change of command ceremony here July 15.

Col. David Lyons, 388th Fighter Wing commander, presided over the ceremony.

Gough, a 1991 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, previously served as Director of Theater Security Cooperation, U.S. Air Forces Central Command, and is a command pilot with over 2,000 flight hours, 500 instructor hours and 300 combat hours.

As the new UTTR commander, Gough oversees the largest block of overland contiguous special use airspace within the continental U.S.

The UTTR is located in Northwestern Utah and Eastern Nevada, approximately 100 miles West of Hill Air Force Base.

The range is a Department of Defense Major Range and Test Facility and provides an ideal location for operational test and evaluation of weapons requiring a large safety footprint. It is the only location capable of supporting overland testing of cruise missiles. The UTTR is used in a training capacity for air-to-air-combat, air-to-ground inert and live practice bombing and gunnery training by Defense Department aircrews.