Brig. Gen. Michael D. Tomatz is the Director of Operations and International Law, The Judge Advocate General's Corps, Department of the Air Force. In this capacity, Brig. Gen. Tomatz oversees the provision of legal services to the Air Force and Space Force on air and international law, space law, cyberspace and information law, environmental law and litigation, and aviation and admiralty tort matters. He leads a team of nearly 100 judge advocates, civilian attorneys, and paralegals at 15 locations.
Brig. Gen. Tomatz received a direct commission as an Air Force judge advocate and entered active duty in January 1994. He is admitted to practice law before the Supreme Court of Texas, the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces and the United States Supreme Court.
EDUCATION
1990 Bachelor of Arts, Political Science, Magna Cum Laude, University of Houston, Houston, Texas
1993 Juris Doctorate, University of Texas Law School, Austin
2000 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
2002 Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala., by correspondence
2007 Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala., by correspondence
ASSIGNMENTS
1. April 1994–July 1997, Chief of Claims, Chief of Adverse Actions, 60th Air Mobility Wing, Travis Air Force Base, Calif.
2. July 1997–July 1999, Area Defense Counsel, Air Force Legal Services Agency, Hickam AFB, Hawaii
3. July 1999–August 2001, Chief of Operations Law, Chief of Military Justice, 366th Fighter Wing, Mountain Home AFB, Idaho
4. August 2001–June 2002, LLM Student, U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s School, Charlottesville, Va.
5. June 2002–June 2004, Deputy Staff Judge Advocate, Iceland Defense Force, Naval Air Station Keflavik, Iceland
6. July 2004–June 2005, Assistant Director, Directorate of Operations and International Law, Defence Legal, Australian Defence Force, Canberra, Australia
7. June 2005–June 2007, Staff Judge Advocate to the U.S. Defense Attaché, U.S. Defense Representative to Australia, and 337th Air Support Flight, U.S. Embassy, Canberra, Australia
8. June 2007–July 2010, Staff Judge Advocate, 1st Special Operations Wing, Hurlburt Field, Fla.
9. July 2010–July 2012, Chief, Operations and Information Operations Law, JAO, the Pentagon, Arlington, Va.
10. July 2012–July 2014, Staff Judge Advocate, U.S. Air Forces Central Command, Shaw AFB, S.C. and Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar
11. July 2014–July 2017, Staff Judge Advocate, 3rd Air Force and 17th Expeditionary Air Force, Ramstein AB, Germany
12. July 2017–March 2019, Senior Military Assistant to the General Counsel of the Department of Defense, the Pentagon, Arlington, Va.
13. March 2019–July 2021, Staff Judge Advocate, North American Aerospace Defense Command and United States Northern Command, Peterson AFB, Colo.
14. July 2021–September 2022, Staff Judge Advocate, U.S. European Command, Stuttgart, Germany
15. September 2022–present, Director, Operations and International Law, The Judge Advocate General's Corps, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, the Pentagon, Arlington, Va. and Joint Base Andrews, Md.
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Defense Superior Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
Legion of Merit
Defense Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters
Joint Service Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
Joint Service Achievement Medal
National Defense Service Medal
Iraqi Campaign Medal
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Humanitarian Service Medal
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
First Lieutenant Jan. 26, 1994
Captain July 26, 1994
Major Oct. 1, 2001
Lieutenant Colonel June 1, 2007
Colonel March 1, 2012
Brigadier General June 24, 2022
(Current as of September 2022)