Todd E. Randolph

Military Fellow, U.S. Air Force

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Expert Bio

Colonel Todd E. Randolph, U.S. Air Force, is a Military Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He most recently served as the commander of the 316th Wing and installation commander for Joint Base Andrews-Naval Air Facility Washington, Maryland, from June 2022 to July 2024. As the host wing, the 316th Wing provides security, personnel, contracting, finance, medical, and infrastructure support for five operational flying wings, three higher headquarters, and more than eighty tenant organizations, as well as sixty thousand airmen and families in the National Capital region and around the world. Additionally, the wing supported contingency air operations in the nation’s capital with immediate-response rotary assets and provided security for the world’s highest-visibility flight line.

From June 2020 to June 2022, Randolph commanded the 27th Special Operations Mission Support Group at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico, where he led the execution of base support and services activities to ensure mission readiness for the wing. From July 2018 to June 2020, he served as the acting deputy director of force management policy for officer and enlisted personnel management in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. From July 2017 to July 2018, Randolph served as the deputy chief of the airman and family care division for headquarters air force, manpower, personnel, and services in the Directorate of Services.

Randolph enlisted in the air force in 1989, and served eleven years in the mental health career field before earning his commission as a distinguished graduate from Officer Training School in 2000. His experiences also include assignments as executive officer for the Air Force Air Demonstration Team, the “Thunderbirds”; as legislative fellow for Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE); and as squadron commander from July 2013 to July 2015. While assigned to the Secretary of the Air Force, Inspector General’s office, he served on a one-year deployment as the U.S. Forces-Iraq, Joint Operations, Deputy Chief Borders Division in Baghdad, Iraq, where he assisted the Iraqi government with securing its borders and boosting economic prosperity.

Randolph holds a master’s degree in national security strategy from the National War College.

 

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