Col. Nicholas A Volpe is the Director of Communications, Headquarters Air Education and Training Command, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas. As director, he serves as the functional leader for 7,000 communications professionals, providing information technology services to more than 62,400 personnel at 12 major installations. He leads a directorate staff comprising 150 military and civilian personnel. Colonel Volpe is responsible for formulating and providing policy and guidance for all communications budgeting, programming, operations, and maintenance activities within the command, as well as executing a $35 million annual operations budget. Colonel Volpe also executes AETC's Chief Information Officer duties. In this capacity, he is responsible for planning, developing, and implementing policies for integrating information technology across AETC.
Prior to his current assignment, Colonel Volpe was the Chief Technology Officer, U.S. Air Force Academy, where he provided direction for managing, maintaining, and controlling Information Technology assets, systems, and policies. He was also responsible for network performance, reliability, and security programs. He began his career as a communications-computer systems officer and has served in the communications field in a variety of positions at squadron, federal agency, major command, and combatant command levels. Colonel Volpe is a native of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and received his commission from the U.S. Air Force Academy.
EDUCATION
1988 Bachelor of Science degree, United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.
1989 Basic Communications Officer Training, Keesler AFB, Miss.
1992 Master's degree in Business Administration, Auburn University, Montgomery, Ala.
1998 Squadron Officer School, by correspondence
2004 Air Command and Staff College, by correspondence
2010 Air War College, by correspondence
ASSIGNMENTS
1. July 1988 - July 1989, Admissions Counselor, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo.
2. August 1989 - November 1989, Comm-Computer Systems Officer Course, Keesler AFB, Miss.
3. December 1989 - January 1993, Chief, Requirements, 1973rd Communications Group, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
4. January 1996 - August 2002, Computer Emergency Response Team, Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), Arlington, Va.
5. September 2002 - April 2004, Cyberspace Officer, U.S. Northern Command, Peterson AFB, Colo.
6. May 2004 - September 2007, Communications Planner, U.S. Pacific Command, Camp H. M. Smith, Hawaii
7. October 2007 - September 2008, Cyberspace Officer, Air Force Space Command, Peterson AFB, Colo.
8. October 2008 - August 2011, Managing Director, Institute for Information Technology Applications, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo.
9. September 2011 - March 2013, Chief Technology Officer, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo.
10. April 2013 - April 2014, IMA to the Director of Communications, Headquarters Air Education and Training Command, JBSA-Randolph, Texas
11. May 2014 - present, Director of Communications, Headquarters Air Education and Training Command, JBSA-Randolph, Texas
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
Joint Service Commendation Medal
Air Force Commendation Medal
Joint Service Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters
National Defense Service Medal with service star
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Armed Forces Service Medal
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant June 1, 1988
First Lieutenant June 1, 1990
Captain June 1, 1992
Major October 1, 2001
Lieutenant Colonel August 26, 2008
Colonel August 9, 2013
(Current as of August 2014)