Thomas Walsh Email & Phone Number

Colonel Thomas “FANG” Walsh is the commander of the 21st Air Task Force (ATF). In 2024, the USAF activated 6 ATFs to be pathfinder units of action. ATFs combine Mission Ready Airmen,trained as a cohesive team of teams, with emerging technologies and novel operational concepts to generate and sustain combat power. A U.S. Air Force Weapon System Officer (WSO), Olmsted Scholar in the Class of 2014, and member of SAASS Class XXVI, he is a graduate of National Defense University’s Joint Advanced Warfighting School (JAWS). JAWS produces graduates capable of synergistically combining all elements of national power in time, space, and purpose to accomplish operational or strategic objectives. Colonel Walsh is a Fellow of MIT’s prestigious Seminar XXI Program. Previously, Colonel Walsh served as the Commander of the 7th Operations Support Squadron - a team of over 200 officer, enlisted, and civilian Airmen providing full-spectrum operations support to the B-1B and Dyess Air Force Base. The Olmsted Scholar Program selects Department of Defense active duty line officers for up to one year of language instruction and two years of graduate education at a foreign university. Colonel Walsh received a Master's Degree in Defense Studies from the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Following his tour as an Olmsted Scholar, Colonel Walsh studied military strategy at the U.S. Air Force's School of Advanced Air and Space Studies (SAASS), where he earned a Master of Philosophy degree in military strategy. From 2017-2019, he served as the Inspector General for the 7th Bomb Wing. Colonel Walsh earned his commission from the U.S. Air Force Officer Training School. After completing Joint Undergraduate Navigator Training at NAS Pensacola, he went on to Dyess Air Force Base to fly the B-1B Lancer. He has served as an Instructor Weapon System Officer (IWSO), Instructor Combat System Officer (ICSO), Squadron and Group Executive Officer, Weapons & Tactics Officer, Flight Commander, and Inspector General. Colonel Walsh is a Senior Navigator with over 2000 flight hours and 1000 combat hours in the CENTCOM theater. He is married with two daughters and one son.

Listed skills include Air Force, Top Secret, Weapons, Electronic Warfare, and 9 others.

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  Strategic Planner

  The Joint Staff

  United States