General Philip Breedlove

Gen. Philip M. Breedlove retired from the US Air Force as NATO’s Commander, Supreme Allied Command, Europe, “SACEUR” and Commander U.S. European Command, Stuttgart, Germany. He currently is a Distinguished Professor of the Practice at Georgia Tech’s Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and serves on the Board of Directors at the Atlantic Council.

The General was raised in Forest Park, Georgia, received a Degree in Civil Engineering, and was commissioned in 1977 as a distinguished graduate of Georgia Tech's ROTC program. He has been assigned to numerous operational, command, and staff positions and has completed eleven overseas tours, including two remote tours. He has commanded a fighter squadron, an operations group, three fighter wings, a numbered air force, a major combatant command, and an alliance. General Breedlove served in several senior staff positions including as Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C., the Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force, and as Vice Director for Strategic Plans and Policy on the Joint Staff. General Breedlove is a command pilot with 3,500 flying hours, primarily in the F-16, and has flown combat missions in Operation Joint Forge/Joint Guardian.

Prior to assuming his position as SACEUR, General Breedlove served as the Commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Commander of U.S. Air Forces Africa, Commander of Air Component Command, Ramstein, and Director of Joint Air Power Competence Centre, Kalkar, Germany.  He was responsible for Air Forces activities conducted through the 3rd Air Force in an area of operations covering more than 19 million square miles. This area included 105 countries in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Arctic and Atlantic oceans. As Vice Chief, he presided over the Air Staff and served as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Requirements Oversight Council and Deputy Advisory Working Group. He assisted the Chief of Staff with organizing, training, and equipping of 680,000 active-duty, Guard, Reserve, and civilian forces serving in the United States and overseas.