MAJOR GENERAL MICHAEL E. FORTNEY, USAF – RET.

Expertise: Political-Military Affairs, Great Power Competition, Combat Arms, Nuclear, Cyber, Space

Major General (retired) Michael E. Fortney was the Vice Commander, Air Force Global Strike Command, Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command organizes, trains, equips, and maintains combat-ready forces that provide strategic deterrence, global strike, and combat support to USSTRATCOM and other geographic combatant commands. The command comprises more than 33,700 professionals operating at two Numbered Air Forces and eleven active-duty, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve wings. Weapons systems assigned to the command include Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, B-1, B-2, and B-52 bombers, UH-1N helicopters, the E-4B National Airborne Operations Center aircraft, and the Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications systems.

Maj. Gen. Fortney enlisted in the Air Force in 1978 and served as an enlisted reconnaissance photo interpreter for over seven years in various assignments. He received his commission as a second lieutenant through Officer Training School in 1986. He has commanded at the squadron, group, and wing levels, and has a broad range of operational tours in ICBM operations, maintenance, test, and space launch. He commanded the Air Force ICBM Flight Test Squadron at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California; the Air Force’s largest Minuteman and Peacekeeper ICBM operations group at F.E. Warren AFB, Wyoming; and the Air Force’s largest ICBM wing at Malmstrom AFB, Montana.

Maj. Gen. Fortney was also the Director of Operations at Air Force Global Strike Command, Barksdale AFB.