Dr. Tadd Sholtis, a member of the Senior Executive Service, is the Principal Deputy Director, Secretary of the Air Force Office of Public Affairs, the Pentagon, Arlington, Virgina. He is responsible for supporting the Director of Public Affairs in creating and executing strategies to build informed public support for the Air Force and Space Force. He provides guidance and policy oversight for internal information, community and media relations and security review programs during peacetime and war, as well as resources and readiness oversight for nearly 4,500 active duty, Guard and Reserve Airmen and civilians. Dr. Sholtis also develops and integrates Air Force and Space Force staff-level strategic communication plans supporting major policy and programming initiatives.
Over the past three decades, predominantly as an active duty Airman, Dr. Sholtis has served as the personal public affairs officer for the commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan; the director of public affairs for U.S. Air Forces Central Command; the director of public affairs for Air Combat Command; the chief of the Air Force press desk at the Pentagon; and a communications planner and adviser for NATO, the Coalition Provisional Authority and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Prior to his current position, he served as the chief of strategy and assessments for the Secretary of the Air Force’s Office of Public Affairs at the Pentagon.
EDUCATION
1993 Distinguished Graduate, Bachelor of Science, English, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.
1994 Master of Arts, English, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa.
2007 Master of Science, Strategic Intelligence, National Defense Intelligence College, Washington, D.C.
2011 Doctor of Philosophy, Military Strategy, Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
ASSIGNMENTS
1. August 1993–August 1994, Student, Air Force Institute of Technology Civilian Institutions Program and U.S. Air Force Academy Graduate Studies Program, the Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa.
2. August 1994–June 1996, Chief of Community Relations, Headquarters, Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
3. June 1996–July 1999, Chief of Public Affairs and then Chief of Wing Exercises and Evaluations, 71st Flying Training Wing, Vance AFB, Okla.
4. July 1999–June 2002, Chief of Public Affairs, 60th Air Mobility Wing, Travis AFB, Calif.
5. June 2002–June 2005, Chief of Public Affairs, Headquarters, 16th Air Force, Aviano Air Base, Italy (Deployed April–August 2004 as Strategic Communication Plans Officer, Coalition Provisional Authority and U.S. Embassy, Baghdad, Iraq)
6. June 2005–August 2006, Chief of Manpower, Organization and Readiness, Secretary of the Air Force Office of Public Affairs, the Pentagon, Arlington, Va.
7. August 2006–July 2007, Student, National Defense Intelligence College, Washington, D.C.
8. July 2007–July 2008, Student, School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
9. July 2008–July 2009, Deputy Director of Executive Issues Team, and then, Chief of the Air Force Press Desk, Secretary of the Air Force Office of Public Affairs, the Pentagon, Arlington, Va.
10. July 2009–August 2010, Personal Public Affairs Officer to the Commander, International Security Assistance Force, Kabul, Afghanistan
11. August 2010–June 2011, Air University Lorenz Fellow, Washington, D.C.
12. June 2011–May 2014, Deputy Director of Public Affairs, Headquarters, Air Combat Command, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va.
13. May 2014–May 2015, Director of Public Affairs, Headquarters, U.S. Air Forces Central Command, Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar
14. May 2015–June 2018, Director of Public Affairs, Headquarters, Air Combat Command, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va.
15. July 2018–June 2020, July 2020–August 2025, Chief of Strategy and Assessments Division, Secretary of the Air Force Office of Public Affairs, the Pentagon, Arlington, Va.
16. August 2025–present, Principal Deputy Director, Secretary of the Air Force Office of Public Affairs, the Pentagon, Arlington, Va.
PUBLICATIONS
Military Strategy as Public Discourse: America’s War in Afghanistan (Routledge, 2014)
(Current as of September 2025)