I served with Col Claude Tudor at the 720th STG. Like the man he is taking 24th SOW’s reins from, Col Mike Martin, Tudor is an outstanding officer. Congratulations!

NEW COMMANDER, 24th SPECIAL OPERATIONS WING, EFFECTIVE MARCH 8, 2018

The Commander, Air Force Special Operations Command Lieutenant General Marshall B. Webb requests the pleasure of your company at a Change of Command Ceremony at which Colonel Michael E. Martin will relinquish command of the 24th Special Operations Wing to Colonel Claude K. Tudor, Jr. on Thursday, the eighth of March at ten o’clock in the morning

COLONEL CLAUDE K. TUDOR, JR.

Colonel Claude Tudor is the Vice Commander of Twentieth Air Force (Air Force Global Strike Command) and ICBM Task Force 214 Deputy Commanding Officer (United States Strategic Command), Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming. Twentieth Air Force and Task Force 214 are responsible for the nation’s ICBM force, including four operational missile wings with over 11,000 assigned personnel. As vice commander, he serves as the designated successor and principal advisor to the commander, Twentieth Air Force. He is also director of the 100-person headquarters staff.

Colonel Tudor was born in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and commissioned through the ROTC program at Troy State University in Alabama. He has spent the preponderance of his career in special-operations ground combat assignments. He has deployed extensively in support of Joint and Coalition special operations supporting combat, humanitarian assistance and peacekeeping/peace-enforcement operations globally.

EDUCATION

1992 Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice, Troy State University, Troy, Ala.

1998 Squadron Officers School, Maxwell AFB, Alabama

1999 Master of Science Degree, Business Management, Troy State University, Fort Walton Beach, Fla.

2003 Air Command and Staff College, non-residence course

2004 Joint Military Intelligence College, Bolling AFB, Washington D.C. (Intermediate Developmental Education)

2004 Master of Science Degree in Strategic Intelligence, Joint Military Intelligence College, Bolling AFB, Washington D.C.

2007 Air War College, non-residence course

2010 Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pa. (Senior Developmental Education)

2010 Master of Strategic Studies, United States Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pa.

ASSIGNMENTS

1. September 1992 – May 1995: Flight Commander, 314th Combat Control Squadron, Little Rock AFB, Ark.

2. May 1995 – May 1997: Flight Commander, 320th Special Tactics Squadron, Kadena AB, Okinawa, Japan

3. May 1997 – May 1999: Director of Force Management, 720th Special Tactics Group, Hurlburt Field, Fla.

4. May 1999 – May 2000: Assistant Director of Operations, 720th Special Tactics Group, Hurlburt Field, Fla.

5. May 2000 – April 2001: Chief, Air Ops Integration, HQ Air Force Special Operations Command/Plans and Programs, Hurlburt Field, Fla.

6. April 2001 – August 2003: Director of Operations, 321st Special Tactics Squadron, RAF Mildenhall, UK

7. August 2003 – June 2004: Student, Joint Military Intelligence College, Defense Intelligence Agency, Bolling AFB, Washington DC

8. June 2004 – July 2006: Commander, 321st Special Tactics Squadron, RAF Mildenhall, UK

9. July 2006 – July 2007: Chief of Special Tactics & Battlefield Airmen Branch, HQ Air Force Special Operations and Personnel Recovery Branch, Washington DC

10. July 2007 – July 2009: Foreign Affairs Specialist, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Global Security Affairs, Coalition and Multinational Operations, Washington DC

11. July 2009 – July 2010: Student, United States Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pa.

12. July 2010 – January 2011: U.S. Army XVIII Airborne Corps Air Liaison Officer, 18th Air Support Operations Group, Pope AFB, N.C.

13. January 2011 – December 2011: Commander, 368th Expeditionary Air Support Operations Group, U.S. Central Command, Iraq

14. December 2011 – June 2014: Deputy Director of Operations, Joint Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, N.C.

15. June 2014 – present: Vice Commander, Twentieth Air Force (Task Force 214 Deputy Commanding Officer), F. E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo.

SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS

1. July 2007 – July 2009: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Global Security Affairs, Coalition and Multinational Operations, Foreign Affairs Specialist, Pentagon as Lieutenant Colonel

2. December 2011 – June 2014: Deputy Director of Operations, Joint Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, N.C. as Colonel

QUALIFICATIONS

U.S. Army Special Forces (SF) qualified Military Free-Fall and Static Line Jumpmaster with more than 400 jumps. He is also a SF Combat Diver, Federal Aviation Administration certified Air Traffic Controller, and Joint Terminal Attack Controller.

MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

Legion of Merit

Bronze Star with one device

Defense Meritorious Service Medal with one device

Joint Meritorious Unit Award

Gallant Unit Citation

Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Valor and eight devices

Air Force Recognition Ribbon

OTHER AWARDS AND HONORS

1994 Air Combat Command Combat Control Officer of the Year

1996 Air Force Special Operations Combat Control Officer of the Year

1996 Air Force Combat Control Officer of the Year

2004 Air Force Special Operations Gill Robb Wilson Award Recipient

EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION

Second Lieutenant May 29, 1992

First Lieutenant July 26, 1994

Captain July 26, 1996

Major Feb 1, 2003

Lieutenant Colonel Dec 1, 2006

Colonel Oct 1, 2010

(Current as of January 2016)