Col Powell is the Commander, 81st Training Group, Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. He commands the United States Air Force’s second largest technical training group consisting of more than 4,000 officer, enlisted, and civilian personnel from all five Department of Defense services and international militaries. He leads 1,100 instructors and staff who deliver courses to over 2,500 non-prior service Airmen and 500 temporary duty students daily, ultimately producing 27,000 warfighters annually.
Upon enlisting in the Air Force in 1992, Col Powell served as a Postal Specialist, a Space Systems Operator, and technical training instructor. He completed his Bachelor of Science degree and was accepted to Air Force Officer Training School in 2000. After commissioning, Col Powell served in various roles at the squadron, group, NAF, MAJCOM, combatant command, and defense agency levels at assignments across the globe. Among his noteworthy assignments was duty as an instructor for Basic Officer Training at the Air Force’s Officer Training School. The colonel also led at an Air and Space Operations Center before serving as the Executive Officer to the PACAF Director of Communications. Col Powell served as Chief of Strategic Assessments at U.S. Cyber Command before deploying to command the 609th Expeditionary Air Communications Squadron. He then served as Deputy Director of Research and as the Director of the Design and Development Directorate at Air University’s Global School for Graduate Professional Military Education. Prior to his current position, Col Powell served as the Executive Officer to the Director, Defense Information Systems Agency and Commander, Joint Force Headquarters – Department of Defense Information Network.
EDUCATION
2000 Bachelor of Science, Information Systems, Chapman University; Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
2001 Basic Communications Officers Course; Keesler AFB, Miss.
2001 Air and Space Basic Course; Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2006 Top-Third Graduate, Squadron Officer School; Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2008 Master of Science in Management, Faulkner University; Montgomery, Ala. 2009 Advanced Communications Officer Training Course; Keesler AFB, Miss.
2011 Congressional Operations Seminar, Georgetown University; Washington, D.C.
2013 Master of Military Operational Art and Science, Air Command and Staff College; Maxwell AFB, Ala. 2016 Doctor of Philosophy (abd), Foreign Policy/International Relations, Auburn University; Auburn, Ala. 2017 Joint Advanced Cyber Warfare Course; Fort Meade, Md.
2017 Cyber 300, Joint Advanced Cyberspace Operations, School of Strategic Force Studies, Air Force Institute of Technology; Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
2019 Joint and Combined Warfighting School, Joint Forces Staff College, Naval Support Activity-Hampton Roads; Norfolk, Va.
2020 Air War College (Correspondence)
CAREER CHRONOLOGY
1. July 1992 - July 1995, Postal Specialist, 86th Mission Support Squadron, Ramstein Air Base, Germany
2. July 1995 - July 1997, Ground System Operator Lead Trainer and Space Systems Operator, 4th Space Operations Squadron, Schriever Air Force Base, Colo.
3. July 1997 - August 2000, Space Systems Operator Instructor, 534th Training Squadron, Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
4. March 2001 - June 2004, Program Manager, USAFE Computer Systems Squadron; OIC of Postal Operations, 786th Communications Squadron; and Executive Officer, 86th Maintenance Group, Ramstein AB, Germany
5. July 2004 - January 2006, Flight Commander, 24th Training Squadron, Officer Training School, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
6. January 2006 - January 2007, Director of Operations, 22d Training Support Squadron, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
7. February 2007 - August 2007, Director of Operations, Iraq Air Force Academy, Camp Taji, Iraq
8. August 2007 - June 2008, Student Squadron Commander, 24th Training Squadron, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
9. August 2008 - June 2010, Director of Operations, Chief of Maintenance, Operations Flight Commander, and Air and Space Operations Center Systems Flight Commander, 56th Air and Space Communications Squadron, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii
10. June 2010 - June 2011, Executive Officer to the Pacific Air Forces Director of Communications, JB Pearl Harbor- Hickam, Hawaii
11. June 2011 - July 2012, Action Officer and Legislative Liaison, COMPACAF Action Group, Headquarters Pacific Air Forces, JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii
12. August 2012 - June 2013, Student, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
13. August 2013 - August 2016, Ph.D. student, Air Force Institute of Technology Advanced Academic Degree Program, Auburn University, Auburn, Ala.
14. August 2016 - May 2019, Chief, Strategic Assessments Branch, U.S. Cyber Command, Fort Meade, Md.
15. May 2019 - July 2020, Commander, 609th Expeditionary Air Communications Squadron, Al Udeid AB, Qatar.
16. July 2020 – March 2021, Deputy Director of Research, Global College of Professional Military Education, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
17. March 2021 – July 2021, Director of Design and Development, Global College of Professional Military Education, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
18. July 2021 – July 2022, Military Deputy, Program Executive Office for Cyber, Defense Information Systems Agency, Fort Meade, Md.
19. July 2022 – May 2024, Executive Officer to the Director, Defense Information Systems Agency and Commander, Joint Force Headquarters – Department of Defense Information Network, Fort Meade, Md.
20. July 2024 – Present, Commander, 81st Training Group, Keesler AFB, Miss.
SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS
1. August 2016 - May 2019, Chief, Strategic Assessments Branch, U.S. Cyber Command, Fort Meade, Md., as a Lieutenant Colonel
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Defense Meritorious Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster
Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters Joint Service Commendation Medal
Air and Space Commendation Medal with three oak leaf clusters
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant November 17, 2000
First Lieutenant November 17, 2002
Captain November 17, 2004
Major September 1, 2010
Lieutenant Colonel December 1, 2015
Colonel February 1, 2022
(CURRENT AS OF JULY 2024)