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Feature | Sept. 20, 2022

Brig Gen Bernard Skoch US Air Force (Ret), Chair of the Board, Air and Space Forces Association

Brigadier General Bernie Skoch (USAF, Ret.) graduated from the University of Arkansas with a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering. Upon graduation he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Force. His 29-year Air Force career took him throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, the Pacific, and the Middle East on permanent and temporary duty until retiring at the rank of brigadier general.

Skoch has more than 25 years of experience in leadership positions developing, managing, and implementing communications and information systems at the wing, major command, and Air Staff levels of the United States Air Force as well as at the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). During his time at DISA, he served as the Principal Director for Customer Advocacy and as the Principal Director for Network Services. At Headquarters USAF, he served as Director of Mission Systems, Director of Communications Operations, and Director of Chief Information Officer Support where he was responsible for aligning information technology systems with business process improvements. He has developed policies for global voice, video, radio, data, and satellite systems. While on the Joint Staff, Skoch led transformation of the mainframe-based DoD-wide Worldwide Military Command and Control System to the distributed Global Command and Control System, substantially improving system support to Combatant Commands.

As Director of Communications at Pacific Air Forces, he led the creation of the COPE SPARK family of initiatives which significantly improved warfighter communications and data support throughout the Pacific.

Upon retirement from active duty, Skoch was a consultant to numerous IT-sector companies and to the federal government. In 2010, following an unsuccessful run for the U.S. House of Representatives, Skoch was appointed National Commissioner of the National Youth Cyber Education Program, CyberPatriot, a program operated by the not-for-profit Air and Space Forces Association. Skoch oversaw the planning and implementation of CyberPatriot and provided leadership and support for the program’s development. Under his leadership the program grew into the largest cyber defense STEM education competition in the world, reaching over 250,000 K-12 students, stimulating their interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics related studies, as well as increasing their awareness of cybersecurity threats.

Skoch is a graduate of Air Command and Staff College, Air War College, and the Program for Senior Officials in National Security at Syracuse University and Johns Hopkins University. He holds a master’s degree in Management and Supervision from Central Michigan University. Bernie is a certificated Commercial Pilot, FAA-certificated drone pilot, an amateur astronomer, and a ham radio operator. Bernie and Debbie, his wife of 50 years, have six children, twenty-one grandchildren, and one great grandchild.

Parent Members

D.L.J.
Honorable Deborah Lee James (Chair)
Former Secretary, US Air Force
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Craig Albright
Craig Albright
Senior Finance Executive Xerox Corp (Former) and Executive Advisor
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A.A
Dr. Alex Alonso, PhD
Chief Knowledge Officer Society for Human Resource Management
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J.A.
Joseph Anderson
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Tag Holdings, LLC
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D.B.
David Beitel
Chief Technology Officer, Zillow Group
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S.D
Sally Donnelly
Founding Partner, Pallas Advisors
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C.E.
Cheryl Eliano
District 10 National Vice President, American Federation Of Government Employees
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C.G.
Dr. Christopher S. Gopal, PhD
Executive, Consultant, Author & Educator, Global Supply Chain & Operations
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L.H.
Linnie M. Haynesworth
Co-Chair, Defense Business Board; Former Vice President, Northrop Grumman; & Independent Board Director
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E.H.
Erin Hill, Esq.
Former Chief Administrative Officer BNY Mellon
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Marachel Knight
Marachel Knight
Senior Technology & Operations Executive, AT&T (Former) and Board Director, Marvell Technology, Inc.
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S.LN.
Suzanne Leopoldi-Nichols
Former Chief Global Business Solutions Officer, WPP
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J.M.
Jennifer McClure
Founder & CEO, Unbridled Talent, LLC
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O.M.
Oscar Munoz
Retired Chairman, President & CEO United Airlines
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L.S.
General Larry Spencer, US Air Force (Ret)
President, Armed Forces Benefit Association
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D.W.
Dr. David Van Slyke, PhD
Dean, The Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs Syracuse University
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J.V.
General Joseph L. Votel, US Army (Ret)
Former Commander, U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command
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D.W.
Honorable David M. Walker
Former Comptroller General of the United States
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Robert Wolf
Robert Wolf
Founder, 32 Advisors
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S.Y
Safroadu "Saf" Yeboah-Amankwah
Senior VP & Chief Strategy Officer, Intel Corporation
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Subcommittee Members

A.B.
Anand Bahl, Chief Information Officer, Micron Technology, Inc.
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G.B
Greg Bowman, J.D., Chief Innovation Officer & Vice President of Corporate Development, Siemens Government Technologies, Inc.
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M.D.
Matthew Daniel, Principal of Talent Strategy, Guild Education
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Defense Business Board
Chief Executive Officer, Lumbee Tribe Holdings, Inc.
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Sarah Mineiro
Sarah Mineiro, Founder and CEO of Tanagra Enterprises
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E.R.
The Honorable Eric Rosenbach, Co-Director, Belfer Center for Science and Internal Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
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S.S.
Stan Soloway, President & CEO, Celero Strategies, LLC
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P.,Z.
Patricia J. Zarodkiewicz, President, PatZ Consulting, LLC
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