Brig. Gen. Bradley A. Swanson is the Director, Plans and Programs, Air National Guard Readiness Center, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. As the principal adviser to the Director, Air National Guard, he advocates and integrates the Air National Guard’s $10 billion annual appropriation into the U.S. Air Force and Department of Defense’s strategic planning and programming processes. He is responsible for the strategic planning and programming processes affecting more than 105,000 Guard members, 90 wings and 174 geographically separated units throughout the 50 states, three territories, and the District of Columbia. In this role, he directs and oversees resource allocation for combat; mobility; command-and-control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; remotely piloted aircraft; cyber and space forces; basing by analyzing and interpreting federal guidance and directing long-range force structure planning to meet Air National Guard federal and state missions. Prior to assuming his current assignment, he served as the Commander, 153rd Airlift Wing, Wyoming Air National Guard, Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Gen. Swanson was commissioned in May 1989 through the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Oklahoma State University. In December 1990 he graduated from Pilot Training at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma, and flew F-15Es at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, Seymour-Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, and Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. In 2000 he joined the Air Force Reserve before joining the Oklahoma Air National Guard in 2002 to fly the F-16. In 2011 he joined the District of Columbia Air National Guard before joining the Wyoming Air National Guard in 2014. He is a command pilot with more than 3,000 hours in the F-15E, F-16, and C-130H.
Gen. Swanson’s previous assignments include serving as the Commander, 113th Operations Group, Commander, 201st Mission Support Squadron, and as the Vice Commander, Air National Guard Readiness Center, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. He has significant combat operations and leadership experience in a variety of operational assignments, contingency operations, and Headquarters Air Staff assignments. He has flown combat sorties in support of Operation Southern Watch, Operations Deny Flight and Deliberate Force and Operations Northern Watch and Iraqi Freedom.
EDUCATION
1989 Bachelor of Science, Industrial Engineering, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater
1996 United States Air Force Weapons School
1997 Air University, Squadron Officer School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama
1998 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Master of Science, Aeronautics, Daytona Beach, Florida
2004 Air University, Air Command Staff College-Joint, by correspondence
2006 Air University, Air War College, by correspondence
2009 National Defense University, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Master of Science, National Resource Strategy, Washington, D.C.
2011 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Fellow, Seminar XXI, Washington, D.C.
2011 Syracuse University, National Security Studies, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Management Course, Syracuse, New York
2012 United States Northern Command, Joint Task Force Commander Course, Colorado Springs, Colorado
ASSIGNMENTS
1. December 1989 - April 1991, Student, Undergraduate Pilot Training, Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma
2. April 1991 - December 1991, F-15E Initial Qualification Training, 461st Fighter Squadron, Luke Air Force Base, Arizona
3. December 1991 - April 1995, F-15E Instructor Pilot; Mission Commander, 334th Fighter Squadron, Seymour-Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina
4. April 1995 - January 1996, F-15E Instructor Pilot; Mission Commander, 494th Fighter Squadron, Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England
5. January 1996 - June 1996, Student, United States Air Force Weapons School, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada
6. June 1996 - March 1998, F-15E Instructor Pilot; Assistant Chief, Weapons and Tactics Instructor Pilot; Flight Commander; Mission Commander; Flight Examiner, 494th Fighter Squadron, Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England
7. March 1998 - March 2000, F-15E Weapons School Instructor Pilot; Air to Air Flight Commander, United States Air Force Weapons School, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada
8. March 2000 - April 2002, Action Officer; Chief, Air Interdiction Planning Cell, 701st Combat Operations Squadron, March Air Force Base, California
9. April 2002 - August 2004, F-16 Pilot; Chief, Wing Plans, 138th Fighter Wing, Tulsa Air National Guard Base, Oklahoma
10. August 2004 - July 2005, Combat Forces Action Officer, Directorate of Operations, National Guard Bureau, Arlington, Virginia
11. July 2005 - August 2008, Chief, Combat Forces; F-16 Program Element Monitor, Directorate of Plans and Programs, National Guard Bureau, Arlington, Virginia
12. August 2008 - June 2009, Student, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University, Fort McNair, Washington, District of Columbia
13. June 2009 - August 2010, Executive Officer to the Director, Air National Guard, Pentagon, Washington, District of Columbia
14. August 2010 - October 2011, Commander, 201st Mission Support Squadron; Vice Commander, Air National Guard Readiness Center, Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland
15. October 2011 - July 2013, Commander, 113th Operations Group, District of Columbia Air National Guard, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland
16. July 2013 - July 2014, Director, Plans and Programs, National Guard Bureau, Air National Guard Readiness Center, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland
17. July 2014 - February 2016, Commander, 153rd Airlift Wing, Wyoming Air National Guard, Cheyenne, Wyoming
18. February 2016 - present, Director, Plans and Programs, National Guard Bureau, Air National Guard Readiness Center, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland
FLIGHT INFORMATION
Rating: Command Pilot
Flight Hours: More than 3,000, including more than 240 combat hours
Aircraft Flown: F-15E, F-16, C-130, AT-38, T-38 and T-37
AWARDS
Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster
Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Aerial Achievement Medal with oak leaf cluster
Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Joint Meritorious Unit Award
Air Force Outstanding Unit with four oak leaf clusters
Air Force Organizational Excellence Award with two oak leaf clusters
Combat Readiness Medal with oak leaf cluster
National Defense Service Medal
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
Southwest Asia Service Medal with device
Iraq Campaign Medal with device
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Armed Forces Service Medal with device
Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medal
Air Force Overseas Ribbon (Long)
Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon with gold border
Air Force Longevity Service Award with six oak leaf clusters
Armed Forces Reserve Medal with device
Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon (Rifle)
Air Force Training Ribbon
NATO Medal
Kuwait Liberation Medal Government of Kuwait
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant Aug. 22, 1989
First Lieutenant Aug. 22, 1991
Captain 22 Aug. 22, 1993
Major April 2, 2001
Lieutenant Colonel June 29, 2005
Colonel April 10, 2009
Brigadier General February 8, 2016
(Current as of March 2016)