Colonel David M. Bissonnette is the Vice Commander, 432d Wing and 432d Air Expeditionary Wing (AEW), Creech Air Force Base, Nev. He is responsible for all operations and maintenance of the Air Force’s first Remotely Piloted Aircraft wing, equipped with more than 130 MQ-1B Predator, MQ-9 Reaper and RQ-170 Sentinel remotely piloted aircraft. The 432d Wing trains pilots, sensor operators, and other crewmembers, and conducts persistent attack and reconnaissance combat operations worldwide. As the 432 WG Vice Commander, he leads more than 2,500 active duty, government civilians, and contract personnel in three groups and the wing staff. In addition, as the 432 AEW Vice Commander, he assists in the execution of operational authorities for the Combined Forces and Joint Forces Air Component Commanders for 432d Wing units as well as twelve Air National Guard combat MQ-1B and MQ-9 units across the United States.
Colonel Bissonnette was commissioned in 1992 as an ROTC graduate of Princeton University. He has served in a variety of operational flying, staff and command assignments at the squadron, group, numbered air force and joint levels. He was the Deputy Commander of the 432d Operations Group, Commander of the 432d Operations Support Squadron and served as the Director of Operations of the 361st Expeditionary Reconnaissance and the 15th Reconnaissance Squadrons and a student at the National War College at Ft. McNair, Washington, D.C. Most recently, he served as the Chief of the United States Forces Korea and Combined Forces Command’s Joint Operations Coordination Element and was the primary operations liaison element within the Republic of Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Colonel Bissonnette is a command pilot with more than 3,500 total flying hours in the MQ-1, MC-12, F-15 C/D, and B-52H, including over 400 combat hours in Operations DESERT FOX, NOBLE EAGLE, SOUTHERN and NORTHERN WATCH, ENDURING FREEDOM, IRAQI FREEDOM and UNIFIED PROTECTOR.
EDUCATION
1992 Bachelor of Science & Engineering, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton N.J.
1999 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2007 Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala., Distinguished Graduate
2007 Master of Science, Military Operational Art & Science, Air University, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2009 Air War College, correspondence
2014 Master of Science, National Security Strategy, National War College, Washington, D.C.
2014 National War College, Ft. McNair, Washington, D.C.
ASSIGNMENTS
SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS
1. July 2014 – July 2016, Chief, USFK/CFC Joint Operations Coordination Element, United States Army Garrison Yongsan, Republic of Korea, as a Colonel.
FLIGHT INFORMATION
Rating: Command Pilot
Flight hours: More than 3,500
Aircraft flown: MQ-1B, MC-12W, C-12, F-15B/C/D, B-52H
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Defense Superior Service Medal
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters
Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters
Aerial Achievement Medal with six oak leaf clusters
Air Force Commendation Medal
Air Force Achievement Medal with one oak leaf cluster
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant Jan. 27, 1993
First Lieutenant Jan. 27, 1995
Captain Jan. 27, 1997
Major June 1, 2003
Lieutenant Colonel July 1, 2008
Colonel Nov. 1, 2014