MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Lt. Col. James Bishop, commanding officer of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 212, relinquished command to Lt. Col. James Bright during a change of command ceremony Jan. 9.
Bishop, who has commanded VMFA-212 since July 5, 2001, holds a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the Virginia Military Institute and has attended Naval aviator training in Pensacola, Fla.
Since his commission in 1984, he has flown over 3,500 hours in various F/A-18s. He has served with VMFA-451, Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, S.C., and worked aboard the USS Coral Sea. Bishop also spent time as an air warfare expert and aviation development tactics and evaluation department head at MCAS Yuma, Ariz., and served in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
Bishop's decorations include the Air Medal with strike/flight award and a numeral three, a Navy Commendation Medal with two gold stars, a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with a Combat V and two gold stars and the Combat Action Ribbon.
Bishop served his tour here with his wife Katherine, and two children.
Bright, who most recently served as commanding officer of Headquarters Squadron, Marine Aircraft Group 12, originally joined the Marine Corps Reserve in 1979 and spent four years as an infantryman with 3d, Battalion, 24th Marines. In 1984 he earned his commission through the Platoon Leaders Class program after earning a bachelor's degree from Middle Tennessee State University.
A year after his commission, Bright attended Flight School in Pensacola, Fla., and Meridian, Miss., to earn his golden wings and a seat in an F/A-18.
Throughout his career, Bright completed three Western Pacific deployments out of MCAS Beaufort, served as an exchange officer with the Royal Air Force, Future Operations officer for 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, Okinawa, Japan, and as a Leadership and Land Navigation instructor at The Basic School in Quantico, Va.
Bright has logged over 2,800 flight hours, 2,500 of those with the F/A-18. His decorations include the Air Medal with one strike/flight award, the Joint Commendation Medal and five Navy Commendation Medals, one with the Combat Distinguishing Device.
Bright will serve his tour here with his wife, Karen, and three children; Tori Newton, 12, Bruce Jr., 3, and Sara June, 1.