Brig. Gen. Casey D. Blake

Deputy Director

Brig. Gen. Casey D. Blake Profile

The Deputy Director

Brig. Gen. Casey Blake is the Deputy Director, Army and Air Force Exchange Service (Exchange), Dallas, Texas. He plans, trains, equips and leads this organization to meet the needs of field commanders and their troops, whether deployed to forward locations, garrison or training centers. The Exchange operates as a Soldier and Airman owned co-op, with 98 percent of its budget generated from sales. The Exchange is the 47th largest retail company in the United States, with revenue of approximately $10 billion per year. It employs more than 43,000 civilians and provides department stores, convenience stores, gas stations, restaurants, theaters, vending and other businesses on military installations in all 50 states, five U.S. territories and more than 30 countries.

Brig. Gen. Blake entered the Air Force in 1984 through the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at The Citadel, Charleston, S.C. He earned a Master of Business Administration degree in management from Golden Gate University, Calif.; completed an Education with Industry Program at Aerojet Corporation, Sacramento, Calif.; has completed Air Command and Staff College and Air War College; finished the Advanced Program Management Course, Defense Systems Management College, Fort Belvoir, Va., and was the Distinguished graduate, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University, Fort McNair, Washington, D.C.

Brig. Gen. Blake has served as an information management officer; Air Force mission director on a NATO fighter wing; and served in a variety of command, staff and joint contracting positions throughout his career. He has deployed as a contingency contracting officer in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and served as the Senior Contracting Official-Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He is a joint qualified officer having served at the Office of the Secretary of Defense, deployed to Iraq for two months in support of the Joint Forces Command Enabling Force Study. Brig. Gen. Blake last served as Deputy Commander, Joint Theater Support Contracting Command, U.S. Central Command, Afghanistan.

Brig. Gen. Blake's awards and decorations include the:
Defense Superior Service Medal
Legion of Merit
Bronze Star Medal with oak leaf cluster
Meritorious Service Medal with silver oak leaf cluster
Joint Service Commendation Medal
Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Air Force Achievement Medal
He also won Information Management Officer of the Year in U.S. Air Forces in Europe in 1989; Contracting Officer of the Year for 1993 at Warner Robins Air Logistics Center; won both the Department of Defense David Packard Excellence in Acquisition Award and the Secretary of the Air Force John J. Welch Acquisition Management Award in 1998; won the Secretary of the Air Force President's Committee Award for Excellence in Contracting in 2001; was named the 2004 Contingency Contracting Officer of the Year, Air Education and Training Command; and he won the 2006 Maj. Gen. Theodore Antonelli Award for Industry Study Excellence, Industrial College of the Armed Force.