Colonel Randy Whitecotton serves as the 2d Mission Support Group Commander, 2d Bomb Wing, Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, where he commands over 1,900 Airmen and civilians while also providing mission support services to B-52 aircraft and over 11,000 base and 25,000 retired customers.
Colonel Whitecotton graduated from Purdue University in 1993 and received his commission through AFROTC as a distinguished graduate. He entered the Air Force in March 1994 and has served in five different Major Commands (MAJCOMs), at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), and at the Air Staff in various civil engineer positions to include: environmental & community planner; group executive officer; AFIT instructor of environmental management; chief of engineering; PACAF/A7 command facilities programmer; US Army Command and General Staff College student; deployed Base Civil Engineer (BCE) and fire marshal for the HQ International Security Assistance Force compound (Kabul, Afghanistan); operations flight commander; deputy commander of the 777th Expeditionary Prime BEEF Squadron (Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan); and in the Headquarters Air Force (Pentagon) Office of the Air Force Civil Engineer (AF/A7C) as the Chief of the Operations & Maintenance (O&M) Programs Branch. He has twice commanded CE squadrons in Hawaii and deployed downrange. Most recently, he served as the Current Operations Division Chief (J33) and Nuclear Weapons Accident-Incident Exercise (NUWAIX) Branch Chief at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.
Lastly, Colonel Whitecotton is a published author in the peer-reviewed journal, Environmental Management and an Army Corps of Engineers’ technical report, resulting from his master’s research conducted at the US Air Force Academy. With that, he has been a Registered Environmental Manager since 1999. He and his wife, Rebecca, are the proud parents of two young adults: Ethan and Alison.
EDUCATION
1993 Bachelor of Science Degree, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind.
1997 Master of Science Degree, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana
2000 Squadron Officers School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
2004 Air Command and Staff College (correspondence), Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2006 US Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
2011 Air War College (correspondence), Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2019 Joint Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Va.
2020 Joint Humanitarian Operations Course (USAID/Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance resident course)
ASSIGNMENTS
1. March 1994 – August 1997, Section Commander/Executive Officer, Chief of Energy and Water Management, Construction Manager and Environmental Planner, 377th Civil Engineer Group, Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.
2. August 1997 – December 1998, AFIT Graduate Student, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
3. January 1999 – June 2001, Instructor of Environmental Management, Air Force Institute of Technology, Ohio
4. June 2001 – June 2002 (Deployed), Chief of Engineering, Joint Task Force Bravo, Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras
5. June 2002 – June 2005, Chief of Manpower and Training Section, Chief of Directorate Briefings Team, and Command Facilities Programmer, HQ PACAF, Hickam AFB, Hawaii
6. June 2005 – June 2006, USAF IDE student, US Army Command-General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
7. July 2006 – June 2009, Operations Flight Commander, 375th Civil Engineer Squadron, Scott Air Force Base, Ill.
8. December 2007 – June 2008 (Deployed), Base Civil Engineer & Fire Marshal, Headquarters Support Group, InternationalSecurity Assistance Force (ISAF), HQ ISAF, Kabul, Afghanistan
9. March – September 2010 (Deployed), Deputy Commander, 777th Expeditionary Prime BEEF Squadron, Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan
10. June 2009 – May 2012, Chief of O&M Programs Branch, MILCON Program Manager and Branch Integrator, Programs Division, Office of the Civil Engineer, Headquarters Air Force (Pentagon), Washington, D.C.
11. June 2013 – Jan 14 (Deployed), Commander, 474th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, JTF Guantanamo
12. May 2012 – August 2014, Commander, 647th Civil Engineer Squadron & NAVFAC-HI Dep JB-4, JBPHH, Hawaii
13. September 2014 – June 2015, Deputy Commander, Air Force Installation Mission Support Center, Pacific Det, Hawaii
14. June 2015 – June 2018, NUWAIX Branch Chief, HQ Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Fort Belvoir, Va.
15. June 2018 – July 2020, Chief of Critical Infrastructure Protection & Assessment, the Agency’s J33, HQ Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Fort Belvoir, Va.
16. July 2020 – Present, Commander, 2d Mission Support Group, Barksdale Air Force Base, La.
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Defense Meritorious Service Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster
Meritorious Service Medal with seven Oak Leaf Clusters
Navy Commendation Medal and Air Force Commendation Medal
Joint Service Achievement Medal and Air Force Achievement Medal
Meritorious Unit Award
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with one Oak Leaf Cluster
Air Force Organizational Excellence Award with one Oak Leaf Cluster
National Defense Service Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster and Afghanistan Campaign Medal with one Device
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal
Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medal
Korean Defense Service Medal
Air Force Overseas Ribbon Short with three Oak Leaf Clusters
Air Force Overseas Ribbon Long with two Oak Leaf Clusters
Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon with Gold Border
Air Force Longevity Service with five Oak Leaf Clusters; and, Air Force Training Ribbon NATO Medal with one Device
2019 Joint Qualified Officer
2015 Governor of Hawaii Team Excellence Award for Combating Exotic Species
2014 Preservation Honors Award, Historic Hawaii Foundation
2013 SMSgt Gerald J. Stryzak Best Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Flight Award, Pacific Air Forces
2012 DoD Best Fire Department of the Year, Navy Region Hawaii Federal Fire Department
2009 Scott Air Force Base Field Grade Officer of the Year
2007 Best Civil Engineer Squadron (Large Unit), Air Mobility Command
2003 HQ PACAF Ten Outstanding Young American Award
2001 Soto Cano Air Base Air Force Forces Company Grade Officer (CGO) of the Year
2000 Wright-Patterson AFB CGO of the Year
2000 SOS Flight Outstanding Contributor/Superior Leader (1 of 43 in a class of 518)
1999 Registered Environmental Manager, National Registry of Environmental Professionals
1996 Kirtland AFB CGO of the Year
1993 Distinguished Military Graduate, Air Force ROTC Detachment 220, Purdue University
1989 Eagle Scout, Boy Scouts of America; Life Member, Society of American Military Engineers (SAME)
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant - February 8, 1994
First Lieutenant - February 8, 1996
Captain - February 8, 1998
Major - May 1, 2004
Lieutenant Colonel - May 1, 2009
Colonel - June 1, 2018
(Current as of August 2020)