Col Chris M. Landwehr
Dean, School of Strategic Force Studies
Colonel Chris M. Landwehr is the Dean, School of Strategic Force Studies, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. He leads 42 faculty and staff members across three geographically separate operating locations, committed to developing Airmen, joint service professionals and international partners to thrive in a technologically competitive environment. The School of Strategic Force Studies graduates approximately 5,000 mid-to-senior level students annually from competency-based professional continuing education or scholarship programs focused on critical subject matter such as nuclear surety; deterrence strategy; nuclear command, control, and communications (NC3) methodology; and cyberspace operations. The School of Strategic Force Studies’ operating and maintenance budget is approximately $3.4 million per year, which supports academic partnerships and distance learning, the Department of Nuclear Studies located at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, the Department of Nuclear Command, Control and Communications (NC3) Studies at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, and the Department of Cyberspace Studies located at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
Colonel Landwehr received his commission from Wright State University’s Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program, Dayton, Ohio, in 2001. He has served in a variety of positions at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels, the deployed arena and in the joint environment to include four base-level communications squadrons, a fighter wing staff, the Defense Information Systems Agency and a warfighting Combatant Command. He has also served on the United States Air Forces Central Air Force Forces Forward staff, Air Combat Command staff, Special Operations Command – Africa forward deployed staff and as United States Central Command’s Liaison Officer to Headquarters United States Forces – Afghanistan and NATO’s Resolute Support mission. Prior to this assignment he served as Branch Chief, Enterprise Information Technology Connect Portfolio, Secretary of the Air Force Chief Information Officer, Pentagon, Virginia. In this capacity he led the largest Enterprise Information Technology portfolio, providing policy, strategy, and guidance while managing a diverse set of network connectivity capabilities supporting 845,000 users across a $3B network enterprise.
EDUCATION
2001 Bachelor of Science degree in Management Information Systems, Wright State University, Dayton, Oh.
2002 Basic Communications Officer Training, Keesler AFB, Miss.
2002 Air and Space Basic Course, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2006 Master of Science degree in Technology Systems Management, University of Maryland, Adelphi, Md.
2007 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2009 Advanced Communications Officer Training, Keesler AFB, Miss.
2010 Air Command and Staff College (correspondence), Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2013 Cyberspace 300, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright Patterson AFB, Oh.
2014 Army Command and General Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth, Kan.
2016 Chief Information Officer (CIO) Course, National Defense University, Washington, DC.
ASSIGNMENTS
1. January 2002 – April 2004, Communications Officer, then Officer in Charge, Network Control Center, 81st Communications Squadron, Keesler AFB, Miss.
2. April 2004 – April 2007, Data Network Implementation Manager, then Network Operations Manager, then Chief, Defense Red Switch Network, Defense Information Systems Agency – Europe, Patch Barracks, Germany.
3. April 2005 – August 2005, Watch Officer, Defense Information Systems Agency – CENTCOM, Naval Support Activity Bahrain, Al Manama, Bahrain.
4. April 2007 – June 2009, Flight Commander, Information Systems, then Flight Commander, Operations, then Deputy Commander, 355th Communications Squadron, Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz.
5. November 2008 – April 2009, Executive Officer to the AFCENT CAOC/AFFOR A6 Director, Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar.
6. July 2009 – July 2010, Fighter Wing Executive Officer, 355th Fighter Wing, Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz.
7. August 2010 – June 2013, Chief, CAF Network Integration, Cyber Integration Branch, Plans and Resources Division, Headquarters Air Combat Command, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va.
8. February 2012 – August 2012, J6 Director and Chief of Staff, Special Operations Command and Control Element – Horn of Africa, Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti.
9. June 2013 – June 2014, Student, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth, Kan.
10. July 2014 – July 2016, Commander, 628th Communications Squadron, Joint Base Charleston, SC.
11. July 2016 – May 2017, Chief, Command Records, United States Central Command J6, MacDill AFB, Fl.
12. May 2017 – October 2017, United States Central Command’s Liaison Officer to Headquarters United States Forces – Afghanistan and Headquarters Resolute Support, Kabul, Afghanistan.
13. October 2017 – July 2018, Chief, Central and South Asian States Branch, United States Central Command J6, MacDill AFB, Fl.
14. July 2018 – July 2020, Commander, 86th Communications Squadron, Ramstein Air Base, Germany.
15. July 2020 – June 2022, Chief, Enterprise Information Technology Connect Portfolio, Secretary of the Air Force Chief Information Officer, Pentagon, Va.
16. June 2022 – Present, Dean, School of Strategic Force Studies, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Oh.
SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS
1. April 2004 – April 2007, Data Network Implementation Manager, then Network Operations Manager, then Chief, Defense Red Switch Network, Defense Information Systems Agency – Europe, Patch Barracks, Germany, as a Captain.
2. February 2012 – August 2012, J6 Director and Chief of Staff, Special Operations Command and Control Element – Horn of Africa, Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, as a Major.
3. July 2016 – July 2018, Chief, Command Records and then Chief, Central and South Asian States Branch, United States Central Command J6, as a Major and Lieutenant Colonel.
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Defense Meritorious Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster
Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters
Joint Service Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Army Commendation Medal
Army Achievement Medal
National Defense Service Medal
Afghanistan Campaign Medal
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medal
NATO Medal (Afghanistan)
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant Dec. 17, 2001
First Lieutenant Dec. 17, 2003
Captain Dec. 17, 2005
Major Dec. 1, 2011
Lieutenant Colonel Nov. 1, 2016
Colonel May 1, 2022
(Current as of July 2023)