Provisional combined squadron ends, missions to continue Published June 18, 2010 By Wayne Crenshaw 78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- The short tenure of the 78th Comptroller & Contracting Squadron came to an end Tuesday. In a ceremony at the Museum of Aviation, the squadron was inactivated less than two years after it was formed on a provisional basis. The squadron had combined the 78th Comptroller Squadron and the 78th Contracting Squadron. The 78th Comptroller Squadron will continue as it was previously, with Maj. Albert Seto as commander. The contracting squadron, however, was inactivated. Its personnel will continue doing the same work, but under the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center's Contracting Directorate. Lt. Col. Chris Rogers, who commanded the combined squadron and had previously commanded the contracting squadron, is transferring to Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass. The combined squadron stood up Nov. 13, 2008. It was one of five squadrons at bases throughout the Air Force, and the only one in Air Force Materiel Command, to combine contracting and comptroller squadrons on an experimental basis. Rogers said the Air Force determined the combined squadron concept did not work as well as hoped, but the experiment did enable contracting and comptroller personnel to a get a better understanding of each other's jobs. "If we continued having consolidated squadrons across the Air Force, I can tell you, we would have been the model," he said. Col. Carl Buhler, 78th Air Base Wing commander, expressed appreciation to personnel in the provisional squadron and for the work Rogers did commanding the unit. "It was a monumental undertaking, and he did an outstanding job," Buhler said.