David A. Deptula

Lieutenant General (Ret.) David A. Deptula is an Academy Securities’ Advisory Board Member.

Lieutenant General Deptula served in the United States Air Force for more than 34 years where he took part in operations, planning, and command leadership at the most senior levels. He was the principal attack planner for the 1991 Operation Desert Storm air campaign, commander of no-fly-zone operations over Iraq in the late 1990s, and director of the air campaign over Afghanistan in 2001. Additionally, Lieutenant General Deptula was twice a joint task force commander and was the air commander for the 2005 South Asia tsunami relief operations. His last assignment was as the Air Force’s first deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), where he transformed America’s military ISR and drone enterprises.

Lieutenant General Deptula serves as the Dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies in Arlington, Virginia, and is a Senior Military Scholar at the U.S. Air Force Academy. He is a fighter pilot with more than 3,000 flying hours (400 in combat) including multiple command assignments in the F-15. Defense News Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in U.S. defense in 2014.