Derek Howard of Charleston, S.C., son of local residents Jim and Janice Howard, was recently promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was commissioned in 1994 and received his military pilot’s wings in 1995, following undergraduate pilot training at Vance Air Force Base, Okla., and VT-31 Corpus Christi NAS, Texas.Throughout his 18 years of military service, Lt. Col. Howard has flown the C-130 E-H Hercules at Dyess AFB, Texas; C-27A Spartan during out-of-country assignment at Howard AFB, Panama City, Panama; and the C-17A Globemaster at McChord AFB near Seattle, Wash., and Charleston AFB, S.C.During his military career, Howard has transported troops, supplies and equipment all over the world to such locations as Afghanastan, Iraq and other points in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, South America, Australia and Russia. He flew around the world in four days on one such mission.