Glenn F. Spears Lieutenant General, U.S. Air Force Deputy Combatant Commander, U.S. Southern Command

Lt Gen Glenn F. Spears is Deputy Commander, U.S. Southern Command, Miami, Fla. He is second-in-command of one of nine unified commands under the Department of Defense. USSOUTHCOM is responsible for all U.S. military activities, including Theater Security Cooperation, on the land mass of Latin America south of Mexico; the waters adjacent to Central and South America; the Caribbean Sea, with its 13 island nations, European and U.S. territories; the Gulf of Mexico; and a portion of the Atlantic Ocean.

General Spears was born in Louisville, Ky., and raised in Glen Ellyn, Ill. He earned his commission upon graduation from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1978. He has commanded a combined operations/maintenance B-52 squadron, a B-1 operations group, an air refueling wing and an airlift wing. He also commanded the 100th Air Expeditionary Wing during Operation Allied Force, leading combat and combat support operations with more than 75 B-1, B-52, E-3, KC-135 and RC-135 aircraft, their crews and support personnel. Prior to his current assignment, General Spears served as the Director of Force Management Policy, Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower and Personnel, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. In this role, he was responsible for establishing force management policies for more than 525,000 Air Force active-duty military and civilian personnel.

General Spears is a command pilot with more than 3,400 flying hours in 13 types of Air Force aircraft.

EDUCATION
1978 Bachelor of Science degree, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.
1983 Distinguished graduate, Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
1984 Air Command and Staff College, by correspondence
1989 College of Naval Command and Staff, Naval War College, Newport, R.I.
1989 Master of Arts degree, Salve Regina College, Newport, R.I.
1989 Master of Science degree in national security and strategic studies, Naval War College, Newport, R.I.
1994 Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2002 National Security Leadership Course, Syracuse University, N.Y.

ASSIGNMENTS
1. July 1978 - July 1979, student, undergraduate pilot training, Williams AFB, Ariz.
2. August 1979 - December 1979, student, KC-135 combat crew training, Castle AFB, Calif.
3. January 1980 - August 1983, KC-135 pilot, standardization and evaluation pilot, and aircraft commander, 22nd Air Refueling Squadron, March AFB, Calif.
4. September 1983 - August 1984, Air Staff Training Program action officer, Directorate of Programs and Evaluation, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.
5. September 1984 - April 1985, student, B-52 combat crew training, Castle AFB, Calif.

                                                                                
6. May 1985 - July 1988, B-52 aircraft commander, instructor aircraft commander, and Chief of Wing Scheduling and Mission Development, 644th Bombardment Squadron and 410th Bomb Wing, K.I. Sawyer AFB, Mich.
7. August 1988 - June 1989, student, College of Naval Command and Staff, Newport, R.I.
8. June 1989 - March 1992, Chief of Bomber and Tanker Programs, Directorate of Programs and Evaluation, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.
9. April 1992 - June 1993, Commander, 596th Bomb Squadron, and Deputy Commander, 2nd Operations Group, Barksdale AFB, La.
10. July 1993 - June 1994, student, Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
11. July 1994 - June 1996, Chief, Operations Training and Lessons Learned Branch, and Chief, Command and Control Division, Headquarters U.S. European Command, Stuttgart, Germany
12. June 1996 - August 1996, student, B-1B pilot initial qualification training, Dyess AFB, Texas
13. August 1996 - July 1998, Commander, 28th Operations Group, Ellsworth AFB, S.D.
14. July 1998 - April 2000, Commander, 100th Air Refueling Wing, Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England
15. April 2000 - August 2001, executive officer to the Chief of Staff, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.
16. August 2001 - July 2003, Commander, 89th Airlift Wing, Andrews AFB, Md.
17. August 2003 - January 2005, Director of Plans and Programs, Headquarters Pacific Air Forces, Hickam AFB, Hawaii
18. February 2005 - June 2006, Director of Force Management Policy, Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower and Personnel, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.
19. June 2006 - present, Deputy Commander, U.S. Southern Command, Miami, Fl.

FLIGHT INFORMATION
Rating: Command pilot
Flight hours: More than 3,400
Aircraft flown: B-1B, B-52D/G/H, C-20B/C/H, C-21A, C-9C, C-32A, C-37A, C-40B, KC-135A/Q/R/T, MC-130H, T-37B, T-38A and UH-1

MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Distinguished Service Medal

Legion of Merit with three oak leaf clusters
Bronze Star Medal
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
Kosovo Campaign Medal

OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS
Distinguished graduate, Squadron Officer School
Distinguished graduate, KC-135 combat crew training
Distinguished graduate, B-52 combat crew training

EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant May 31, 1978
First Lieutenant May 31, 1980
Captain May 31, 1982
Major March 1, 1988
Lieutenant Colonel April 1, 1992
Colonel Oct. 1, 1996
Brigadier General Feb. 1, 2003
Major General  March 1, 2006

Lieutenant General Nov. 2, 2007

(Current as of Nov 2007)