Colonel Tracy N. Hunter is the Acting Director, Air Force Research Laboratory, Information Directorate, and the Commander, AFRL/Det 4 Rome, New York. The directorate’s mission is to lead the discovery, development and integration of affordable warfighting information technologies for our air, space and cyberspace forces. Lieutenant Colonel Hunter plays a key role in overseeing an annual budget of more than $1.2 billion and directing the activities of approximately 800 military and civilian scientists, engineers, administrative and support personnel.
Lieutenant Colonel Hunter entered the Air Force in 1998 as a distinguished graduate of the Reserve Officer Training Corps at the University of Illinois. Her diverse experience includes aircraft maintenance, command and control, weapons engineering, modeling analysis, joint targeting, acquisition program management and manpower requirements. She was responsible for generating over 956 sorties of command and control aircraft, led interagency efforts with state and national level departments, and directed operations for 1,733 search and rescue missions saving 43 lives. She also established vital processes as the executive officer of a newly established wing and led the second increment of a Joint Acquisition Category 1D program through technology development. Additionally, she delivered 53 targeting packages of critical networks in support of COCOM plans and operations. She was the Commander of the 5th Manpower Requirements Squadron, where she led the development of 14 Air Force-wide standards, validating over 46 thousand Total Force manpower billets, exceeding three billion dollars in total obligation authority. Prior to her current assignment, she was the Commander, Cadet Group Two, Commandant of Cadets, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado where she was responsible for motivating, training, and developing 10 squadrons comprised of 1,100 cadets into officers of character culminating in an undergraduate degree and a commission in the US Air Force.
EDUCATION
1998 Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
1998 Air and Space Basic Course, Maxwell Air Force Base (AFB), Ala.
2003 Master of Aeronautical Science, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Fla.
2003 Squadron Officer School, Air University, Maxwell AFB, Ala (Distinguished Graduate). 2008 Air Command and Staff College, Correspondence.
2010 Master of Operations Research, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
2013 Air War College, Correspondence
2017 Air War College, Air University, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
ASSIGNMENTS
1. Aug 1998 – Dec 1999, Maintenance Flight Commander, 355th Equipment Maintenance Squadron, Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz.
2. Dec 1999 – May 2000, Fabrication Flight Commander, 355th Equipment Maintenance Squadron, Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz.
3. May 2000 – May 2001, Sortie Generation Flight Commander, 42nd Airborne Command and Control Squadron, Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz.
4. May 2001 – May 2002, Chief of Scheduling, Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC), Langley AFB, Va.
5. May 2002 – May 2004, Chief of Standardization and Evaluations, AFRCC, Langley AFB, Va.
6. May 2004 – Jun 2005, Chief, Small Diameter Bomb Engineering Flight, Miniature Munitions Group, Eglin AFB, Fla.
7. Jun 2005 – Dec 2006, Executive Officer, 308th Armament Systems Wing, Eglin AFB, Fla.
8. Dec 2006 – Sep 2007, Program Manager, Mobile Approach and Control System, Hanscom AFB, Mass.
9. Sep 2007 – May 2009, Program Manager, Joint Precision Approach and Landing System Increment 2, Hanscom AFB, Mass.
10. May 2009 – Jul 2010, IDE and Graduate Student, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
11. Jul 2010 – May 2011, Senior Modeling Project Manager, Joint Warfare Analysis Center (JWAC), Dahlgren Naval Support Facility, Va.
12. May 2011 – Jul 2012, Branch Head, PACOM and USFK Analysis, JWAC, Dahlgren Naval Support Facility, Va.
13. Jul 2012 – May 2014, Commander, 5th Manpower Requirements Squadron, AFPC, Tinker AFB, Okla.
14. May 2014 – May 2016, Commander, Cadet Group 2, United States Air Force Academy, Colo.
15. May 2016 – Jun 2017, SDE, Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
16. Jun 2017 - Present, Deputy Director, Information Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome, N.Y
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters
Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
Air Force Achievement Medal with oak leaf cluster
National Defense Service Medal
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant May 18, 1998
First Lieutenant May 18, 2000
Captain May 18, 2002
Major Feb 1, 2008
Lieutenant Colonel Dec 1, 2011
Current as of 4 August, 2017