Lt Gen Tad J. Oelstrom, USAF (ret.)

Lt. Gen. Tad J. Oelstrom, USAF (ret.) serves as the Director of the National Security Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He also served as the fourteenth Superintendent of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The general was born in Milwaukee and earned his commission from the U.S. Air Force Academy. A career fighter pilot, he is a graduate of the Fighter Weapons Instructor Course at Nellis Air Force Base. He flew 240 combat missions in Southeast Asia and served as an exchange officer with the Royal Air Force flying Hawker Hunter aircraft. He has commanded a squadron, three wings and the 3rd Air Force.

EDUCATION
1965 Bachelor of science degree in engineering, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.
1969 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
1977 Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
1977 Master of business administration degree, Auburn University, Ala.
1980 Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.
1981 Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pa.

ASSIGNMENTS
1. June 1965 – July 1966, pilot, 3576th Student Squadron, Vance Air Force Base, Okla.
2. July 1966 – March 1967, student, F-4 Phantom upgrade training, 4443rd Combat Crew Training Wing, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz.
3. March 1967 – August 1968, F-4 pilot, 417th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Ramstein Air Base, West Germany
4. August 1968 – June 1969, F-4 pilot, 417th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho
5. June 1969 – January 1970, student, U.S. Air Force Operations Training, 4455th Combat Crew Training Squadron, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz.
6. January 1970 – February 1971, F-4E instructor pilot, 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron, and standardization and evaluation officer, 366th Tactical Fighter Wing, Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam
7. February 1971 – January 1974, F-4E instructor pilot, 58th Tactical Fighter Squadron; chief, weapons and tactics division, later, chief, standardization and evaluation, 33rd Tactical Fighter Wing, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.
8. January 1974 – August 1976, Hawker Hunter fighter weapons instructor, tactical weapons unit, Royal Air Force Chivenor, England, and Royal Air Force Brawdy, Wales
9. August 1976 – June 1977, student, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
10. June 1977 – July 1980, staff officer, deputy chief of staff for requirements, Headquarters Tactical Air Command, Langley Air Force Base, Va.
11. July 1980 – July 1981, student, Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pa.
12. July 1981 – February 1984, wing weapons chief, 4th Tactical Fighter Wing, and later, commander, 337th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C.
13. February 1984 – April 1986, deputy commander for operations, 33rd Tactical Fighter Wing, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.
14. April 1986 – August 1987, director of fighter operations, Headquarters Tactical Air Command, Langley Air Force Base, Va.
15. August 1987 – June 1990, vice commander, later, commander, 81st Tactical Fighter Wing, Royal Air Force Bentwaters, England
16. June 1990 – September 1991, executive officer to the deputy commander in chief, U.S. European Command, Stuttgart, Germany
17. September 1991 – May 1992, inspector general, Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Ramstein Air Base, Germany
18. May 1992 – October 1992, commander, 4404th Composite Wing, Southwest Asia
19. October 1992 – July 1993, commander, 86th Fighter Wing, Ramstein Air Base, and commander, Kaiserslautern Military Community, Germany
20. July 1993 – July 1995, vice commander, 9th Air Force, and deputy commander, U.S. Central Command Air Forces, Shaw Air Force Base, S.C.
21. July 1995 – July 1997, commander, 3rd Air Force, Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England
22. August 1997 – 2000, superintendent, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.