Brigadier General DANIEL R. "RICK" DINKINS JR.

Brig. Gen. Daniel R. "Rick" Dinkins Jr. is Director of Command, Control, Communications and Computer Systems, Headquarters U.S. Transportation Command, Scott Air Force Base, Ill. He is responsible for the planning, integration, operations and maintenance of USTRANSCOM's C4 systems. He also serves as the command's Chief Information Officer, responsible for the investment strategy for all information technology resources.

General Dinkins entered the Air Force in 1971 as a Titan II enlisted missile crew member and subsequently completed Officer Training School in 1978. He has commanded three major communications units and served in numerous staff positions at Headquarters Air Force, combatant command and coalition levels in the United States as well as the European, Pacific and Southwest Asia theaters of operations. In 2005, he served as the Director, Communications and Information Systems, Multi-National Force-Iraq, Baghdad, Iraq, in direct support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

EDUCATION
1975 Noncommissioned Officer Leadership School, Little Rock AFB, Ark.
1978 Bachelor of Arts degree in engineering electronics, Park College, Kansas City, Mo.
1981 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
1982 Master's degree in management, Webster University, St. Louis, Mo.
1985 Air Command and Staff College, by correspondence
1991 U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
1991 Armed Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Va.
1994 Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2005 Seminar XXI - Foreign Political and International Relations, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
2008 Program for Executives in Logistics and Technology, University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill

ASSIGNMENTS
1. May 1972 - May 1977, enlisted crewmember, Titan II missile systems, Little Rock AFB, Ark.
2. October 1978 - April 1979, student, Basic Communications Officer Course, Keesler AFB, MS
3. April 1979 - July 1981, communications electronic engineer, 1839th Engineering and Installation Group, Keesler AFB, Miss.
4. July 1981 - July 1984, analyst, Plans, Programs and Budget; executive officer to the Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans, Operations and Readiness; and aide-de-camp to the Commander, Air Force Communications Command, Scott AFB, Ill.
5. July 1984 - January 1988, Chief, Support Information System Panel, Air Force Board Structure, and Chief, Air Force Board and Joint Matters, Deputy Chief of Staff for Command, Control, Communications and Computers, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.
6. February 1988 - June 1990, Commander, 1880th Communications Squadron, Tonopah Test Range, Nev.
7. July 1990 - June 1991, student, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
8. June 1991 - July 1993, Chief, C4 Development, and airborne battle staff member, National Emergency Airborne Command Post, Operations Directorate (J3), the Joint Staff, Washington, D.C., with duty at Offutt AFB, Neb.
9. July 1993 - June 1994, student, Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
10. June 1994 - May 1996, Commander, 99th Communications Squadron, Nellis AFB, Nev.
11. May 1996 - August 1997, Deputy Commander, 99th Support Group, Nellis AFB, Nev.
12. August 1997 - May 1999, Director, Communications and Information Systems (J6), and Chief, Telecommunications Plans Section, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, Casteau, Belgium
13. May 1999 - July 2001, Commander, 3rd Combat Communications Group, Tinker AFB, Okla.
14. July 2001 - March 2003, Deputy Director for C4 Systems (J6), U.S. Pacific Command, Camp H. M. Smith, Hawaii
15. March 2003 - April 2004, Director of Resource Planning, Deputy Chief of Staff for Warfighting Integration, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.
16. April 2004 - January 2006, Director, Joint Single Integrated Air Picture System Engineering Organization, and special assistant for Joint Command and Control Matters, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force for Warfighting Integration and Chief Information Officer, Washington, D.C. (March 2005 - December 2005, Director, Communications and Information Systems, Multi-National Force-Iraq, Baghdad, Iraq)
17. January 2006 - June 2007, Deputy Director, Policy, Planning and Resources, Office of the Chief of Warfighting Integration and Chief Information Officer, Secretary of the Air Force, Washington, D.C.
18. June 2007 - present,  Director, Command, Control, Communications and Computer Systems, Headquarters U.S. Transportation Command, Scott Air Force Base, Ill.

SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS
1. June 1991 - July 1993, Chief, C4 Development, and airborne battle staff member, National Emergency Airborne Command Post, Operations Directorate (J3), the Joint Staff, Washington, D.C., with duty at Offutt AFB, Neb., as a lieutenant colonel
2. July 2001 - March 2003, Deputy Director for C4 Systems (J6), U.S. Pacific Command, Camp H. M. Smith, Hawaii, as a colonel
3. April 2004 - January 2006, Director, Joint Single Integrated Air Picture System Engineering Organization, and special assistant for Joint Command and Control Matters, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force for Warfighting Integration and Chief Information Officer, Washington, D.C., as a brigadier general
4. March 2005 - December 2005, Director, Communications and Information Systems, Multi-National Force-Iraq, Baghdad, Iraq, as a brigadier general
5. June 2007 - present, Director, Command, Control, Communications and Computer Systems, USTRANSCOM, Scott AFB, Ill., as a brigadier general 
 
FLIGHT INFORMATION
Rating: Non-rated aircrew member (battle staff - National Emergency Airborne Command Post)
Aircraft: E-4B

MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Defense Superior Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster
Bronze Star Medal
Defense Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters
Air Force Commendation Medal
Combat Readiness Medal
Iraq Campaign Medal

EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant Sept. 29, 1978
First Lieutenant Sept. 29, 1980
Captain Sept. 29, 1982
Major Dec. 1, 1988
Lieutenant Colonel April 1, 1992
Colonel Aug. 1, 1998
Brigadier General July 1, 2005

(Current as of September 2009)