Tad J. Oelstrom (born February 14, 1943) is a retired United States Air Force Lieutenant General who served 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 The superintendent of the United States Air Force Academy is the senior officer and commander of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The position is normally held by an active duty Air Force lieutenant general, and i ...

in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Training and education

Oelstrom was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1965 and holds a Master of business administration degree from

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

, Alabama. He is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force's

Squadron Officer School Squadron Officer School (SOS), is a 5.5-week-long Professional Military Education (PME) course for U.S. Air Force and Space Force Captains, Department of the Air Force Civilian (DAFC) equivalents and International Officers. It fulfills the U.S ...

, Air Command and Staff College, the Industrial College of the Armed Forces and the U.S. Army War College.

Military career

Oelstrom attended pilot training at Vance Air Force Base,

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, and went on to advanced training in the

F-4 Phantom II The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bow ...

. From 1970 to 1971, he was assigned to

Da Nang Air Base Da Nang Air Base ( vi, Căn cứ không quân Đà Nẵng) (1930s–1975) (also known as Da Nang Airfield, Tourane Airfield or Tourane Air Base) was a French Air Force and later Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) facility located in the city ...

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

. He has served as commander of the

337th Tactical Fighter Squadron 337th may refer to: *337th Aeronautical Systems Group, inactive United States Air Force unit *337th Air Control Squadron, part of the 33d Fighter Wing, an AETC unit, based at the USAF Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida *337th Airlift Squadron, part of ...

, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina; commander of the

81st Tactical Fighter Wing The 81st Training Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force and the host wing at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi. The 81st Training Wing has the Air Force's largest Technical Training Group and trains more than 40,000 students annually. ...

, RAF Bentwaters, England; commander of the 4404th Composite Wing, Dhahran Air Base, Saudi Arabia; commander of the 86th Fighter Wing,

Ramstein Air Base Ramstein Air Base or Ramstein AB is a United States Air Force base in Rhineland-Palatinate, a state in southwestern Germany. It serves as headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) and also ...

, Germany; and commander of Third Air Force, RAF Mildenhall, England. Oelstrom held staff positions at

Tactical Air Command Tactical Air Command (TAC) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 and headquartered at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. It was inactivated on 1 J ...

, United States European Command and United States Central Command. He also served as an exchange officer with the British Royal Air Force. He retired from active duty on August 1, 2000. Oelstrom is a command pilot with more than 4,400 flying hours in aircraft including the T-37,

T-38 T38 or T-38 may refer to: * T38 (classification), a disability sport classification for disability athletics * T.38, a standard for fax over IP * T-38 tank, a Soviet light tank * Allison T38, a turboprop aircraft engine * Northrop T-38 Talon, a U.S ...

, F-4, A-10,

F-15 Eagle The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force selected McDonnell Douglas's ...

F-16 Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful ...

and the

Hawker Hunter The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-R ...

Awards and decorations

Oelstrom's decorations include the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, the

Defense Superior Service Medal The Defense Superior Service Medal (DSSM) is a military decoration of the United States Department of Defense, which is presented to United States Armed Forces service members who perform superior meritorious service in a position of significant ...

, the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

, the Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster, the Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters, and the Air Medal with 15 oak leaf clusters. *

Air Force Distinguished Service Medal *

Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster * Meritorious Service Medal ribbon

Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters * Air Medal ribbon

Air Medal with fifteen oak leaf clusters

References

External links

*
Kennedy School bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oelstrom, Tad J. 1943 births Living people Harvard Kennedy School faculty United States Air Force Academy alumni Superintendents of the United States Air Force Academy United States Air Force generals United States Air Force personnel of the Vietnam War Recipients of the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Auburn University alumni Recipients of the Air Medal Recipients of the Order of the Sword (United States) Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal United States Air Force personnel of the Gulf War