Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Commander Chosen for Air Force Plant 42

A major assigned to Edwards Air Force Base has been selected as the next commander of Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale.

Maj. Peter L. Drinkwater will take over command of the flight test installation, where Northrop assembles the B-2 Stealth bomber, from Lt. Col. Scott Allen in an invitation-only ceremony July 15.

Drinkwater, who was selected for promotion to lieutenant colonel and expects to receive the rank increase in the fall, is chief of operational contracting at Edwards. Allen, 42, is retiring after three years as Plant 42 commander. He has served in the military for 20 years.

When Drinkwater heard earlier this year that the commander slot was opening at Plant 42, he said, he asked to be considered for the job.

“I like the Antelope Valley,” said Drinkwater, who came to Edwards in 1991. “We’re well settled. . . . Plant 42 offers everything I was looking for and allows us to stay here.”

Much of his 16-year Air Force career has involved contracting, Drinkwater said, and this will be his first assignment as commander of a military facility.

Plant 42 is a military facility occupied by aerospace companies, including portions of Lockheed’s top-secret Skunk Works. Only a handful of the 8,000 people who work at the installation are government employees.

Drinkwater said that maintaining Plant 42 as a viable operation, and in particular ensuring that housing development around it is compatible with the flight test operations, will be a top priority for him.

In addition to growth in the adjacent cities of Palmdale and Lancaster, Drinkwater will have to contend with proposed federal budget cuts that may close the airfield up to 11 days a month.