Brig. Gen. Robert P. Summers is director, Combat Support Directorate, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Alexandria, Va. The directorate provides technical, logistical and operations support for our nation's nuclear stockpile. The directorate partners with the commanders in chief, the services and the Department of Energy to maintain the physical and doctrinal components of nuclear deterrence. The directorate conducts independent nuclear surety inspections for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It also conducts assessments of security, survivability and war plans for the CINCs and services. It provides support for teams responding to incidents and accidents involving weapons of mass destruction, and the technical support for managing the resulting consequence.
The general is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and entered military service as an intercontinental ballistic missile crewmember. His career spans a broad range of Air Force and joint duty assignments. These include Minuteman crew and evaluator duty and teaching at the academy. The general also has held positions as an ICBM mission planner, personnel officer, conventional arms control planner, Minuteman squadron commander, Defense Nuclear Agency chief of staff, ICBM group commander and the 90th Space Wing Commander. The 90th Space Wing's performance in 1997 earned the Blanchard Trophy for best ICBM operations unit in the Air Force Space Command Guardian Challenge competition. The wing also won the Colonel Lee R. Williams Trophy for the best ICBM operations wing in Air Force Space Command, and the Omaha Trophy for best ballistic missile unit in U.S. Strategic Command. Prior to assuming his current position, the general was vice commander of the Sacramento Air Logistics Center.
EDUCATION
1973 Bachelor of science degree in mathematics, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.
1974 Squadron Officer School, by correspondence
1978 Master of science degree in physics, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
1983 Distinguished graduate, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
1985 National Security Management Course
1992 Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.
1995 Seminar XXI: Foreign Politics, Internal Relations and the National Interests, Center for International Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.
ASSIGNMENTS
1. June 1973 - February 1974, Minuteman modernized operational readiness training, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
2. February 1974 - July 1976, crewmember and evaluator, 341st Strategic Missile Wing, Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont.
3. August 1976 - March 1978, graduate student, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
4. March 1978 - July 1982, assistant professor of physics, department of physics, and executive officer to the dean of faculty, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.
5. August 1982 - June 1983, student, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
6. July 1983 - September 1985, chief, ICBM Deployment Doctrine Branch, and joint executive officer, Headquarters Strategic Air Command and the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb.
7. October 1985 - June 1987, assistant for senior officer matters, Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, Headquarters Strategic Air Command, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb.
8. July 1987 - July 1988, commander, 564th Strategic Missile Squadron, Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont.
9. July 1988 - July 1989, deputy commander, 341st Combat Support Group, Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont.
10. August 1989 - July 1991, arms control officer and chief, Personnel Division, Headquarters U.S. European Command, Patch Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany
11. August 1991 - June 1992, student, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.
12. June 1992 - June 1995, assistant director of nuclear operations and chief of staff, Defense Nuclear Agency, Alexandria, Va.
13. July 1995 - July 1996, commander, 321st Missile Group, Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D.
14. July 1996 - September 1997, commander, 90th Space Wing, F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo.
15. September 1997 - September 1998, deputy director of operations, Headquarters Air Force Space Command, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo.
16. September 1998 - January 2000, vice commander, Sacramento Air Logistics Center, McClellan Air Force Base, Calif.
17. January 2000 - present, director, Nuclear Support and Operations Directorate, later, director, Combat Support Directorate, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Alexandria, Va.
BADGES
Master space badge
Master missile operations badge
Basic parachutist
WEAPON SYSTEMS
Minuteman II
Minuteman III
Peacekeeper
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Distinguished Service Medal
Defense Superior Service Medal
Legion of Merit
Defense Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
Air Force Commendation Medal
Joint Service Achievement Medal
Joint Meritorious Unit Award with three oak leaf clusters
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with four oak leaf clusters
Air Force Organizational Excellence Award with two oak leaf clusters
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant June 6, 1973
First Lieutenant June 6, 1975
Captain June 6, 1977
Major Nov. 1, 1982
Lieutenant Colonel May 1, 1987
Colonel April 1, 1991
Brigadier General Sept. 1, 1998
(Current as of February 2021)