Col. Frank J. Klimas is the Commander, 505th Command and Control Wing, Detachment 1 at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. Det. 1’s mission is to provide airpower expertise and exercise support to the Mission Command Training Program (MCTP). The detachment provides airpower academics during MCT and doctrinally-correct, theater-specific airpower integration and replication in MCTP exercises. Det. 1 provides observer, coach/trainer support and U.S. Air Force (USAF) exercise control to prepare warfighters for future operations through U.S. Army (USA) Mission Rehearsal and Warfighter exercises. As commander, he is the principal airpower advisor to the USA’s Training and Doctrine Command, Combined Arms Center. He leads a team responsible for advising the command on present and future weapon systems, ordnance, tactics, procedures, capabilities and limitations as they affect force structure, concepts, doctrine, training, modeling, simulation, acquisition and analysis programs.
Col. Klimas enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard in 1988 and served seven years at sea and ashore. He was commissioned in 1999 as a distinguished graduate of the USAF Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He is a Special Operations Combat Systems Officer (CSO), a Weapons Officer, and a Department of Defense certified Foreign Area Officer for the Middle East and North Africa region
Prior to his current position, the colonel was the Chief, Joint Integration, USAF Element (AFLEM), USA Command and General Staff College (CGSC) and an assistant professor in the Department of Joint, Interagency, and Multinational Operations, Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
EDUCATION
1999 Bachelor of Science, Speech Communication, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
2005 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
2009 Master of Business Administration, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
2011 Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala., by correspondence
2012 Master of Arts, Security Studies, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif.
2012 Modern Standard Arabic, Defense Language Institute, Presidio of Monterey, Calif.
2021 Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala., by correspondence
2022 Joint and Combined Warfighting School, Joint Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Va.
ASSIGNMENTS
1. July 1999 – February 2002, Student, Joint Specialized Undergraduate Navigator training, Randolph AFB, Texas (August 2000 – May 2001, Student, C-130 navigator training, Little Rock AFB, Ark., May 2001 – February 2002, Student, MC-130P Navigator training, Kirtland AFB, N.M.)
2. February 2002 – June 2005, MC-130P Instructor Navigator and Executive Officer, 9th Special Operations Squadron, Eglin AFB, Fla. (Seven deployments to Southwest and Central Asia and the Horn of Africa)
3. June 2005 – January 2006, Instructor Navigator, 550th Special Operations Squadron (SOS), Kirtland AFB, N.M. (September 2005 – October 2005, Student, Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala.)
4. January 2006 – June 2006, Student, MC-130 Weapons Instructor training, Hurlburt Field, Fla.
5. June 2006 – January 2009, Flight Commander and Evaluator Navigator, 550th SOS, Kirtland AFB, N.M.
6. January 2009 – September 2009, Chief, Group Weapons and Tactics, 58th Operations Support Squadron, Kirtland AFB, N.M.
7. September 2009 – June 2013, Student, Air Force Institute of Technology, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif. (October 2010 – August 2012, Student, Defense Language Institute, Presidio of Monterey, Calif., August 2012 – February 2013, Arabic language immersion in Morocco, United Arab Emirates, and Oman)
8. June 2013 – June 2015, F-16 Program Officer and Security Cooperation Officer, American Embassy, Rabat, Morocco
9. June 2015 – July 2017, Deputy Commander, Air Force Special Operations Command Operations Center, Hurlburt Field, Fla. (October 2015 – May 2016, Student, U-28A CSO training, Hurlburt Field, Fla.)
10. July 2017 – July 2019, Deputy Commander, Joint Special Operations Air Component – Europe (JSOAC-E), Royal Air Force Mildenhall, United Kingdom (UK)
11. July 2019 – June 2022, Chief of Joint Integration, AFELM, USA CGSC, Ft. Leavenworth, Kan.
12. June 2022 – present, Commander, 505th Command and Control Wing, Detachment 1, Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS
1. June 2013 – June 2015, F-16 Program Officer and Security Cooperation Officer, Office of Security Cooperation (Strategy, Plans, and Programs Directorate (J5), U.S. Africa Command), American Embassy, Rabat, Morocco, as a major and lieutenant colonel
2. July 2017 – July 2019, Deputy Commander and Joint Element Commander of JSOAC-E (Special Operations Command Europe), RAF Mildenhall, UK, as a lieutenant colonel.
3. June 2019 – June 2022, Assistant Professor, Department of Joint, Interagency, and Multinational Operations, USA CGSC, Combined Arms Center, Ft. Leavenworth, Kan., as a lieutenant colonel.
FLIGHT INFORMATION
Rating: senior navigator
Flight hours: 2,100
Aircraft flown: C-130E, MC-130P, HC-130P/N, U-28A
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Defense Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
Meritorious Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster
Air Medal with six oak leaf clusters
Aerial Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
Air Force Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters
PUBLICATIONS
“Trade Agreements are a Component of Integrated Deterrence,” USA CGSC, Ft. Leavenworth, Kan., 2022
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant May 15, 1999
First Lieutenant June 14, 2001
Captain June 14, 2003
Major April 1, 2009
Lieutenant Colonel Oct. 1, 2014
Colonel July 1, 2022
(Current as of July 2022)