Lt Gen Thomas “Tom” Trask, USAF (ret.)

Lt General Trask served 33 years in the US Air Force, retiring as the Vice Commander of United States Special Operations Command. Tom is a defense and security consultant in the Washington DC area, providing full-service consulting focused on defense industry strategy, Capitol Hill engagement, leading and managing large organizations.  He is a Senior Strategist for Navigators Global LLC and a Senior Fellow with the Center of Naval Analysis (CNA). He serves on advisory boards that include Octasic Inc, Metrea Aerospace, Veeam Gov Solutions, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University College of Security and Intelligence, the Global SOF Foundation, NDIA SO/LIC, and several others.  As the Vice Commander serving USSOCOM in the Pentagon, and as the Director of Resources, Programming and Assessments before that, he provided oversight and management of the USSOCOM $12B annual budget.  He was responsible for developing requirements to ensure that our deployed Special Operations Forces on the battlefield had exactly the tools that they needed when they needed them.

Tom entered the Air Force in 1984 as an Air Force ROTC graduate from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.  He flew Rescue and Special Operations helicopters accumulating more than 3200 hours and over 50 combat missions during operations in Operation Just Cause in Panama, Operation Desert Storm in Kuwait and Iraq, and numerous operations in the Balkans, Bosnia and Kosovo.  He commanded at squadron, group, and wing level, and commanded the Air University Squadron Officer College. He has extensive experience in combined and joint planning, operations, programming, and financial management, serving on the Joint Staff, HQ US Central Command, HQ US Special Operations Command, and HQ NATO SOUTH.  Tom has a Master’s degree in International Relations from Troy University, and is a graduate of the Naval War College, the School of Advanced Airpower Studies, and NATO Defense College.