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    HomeAbout UsBiographiesDisplay      060906-F-JZ506-249.JPGEngage On
        
        060906-F-JZ506-249.JPGBRIGADIER GENERAL PAULA G. THORNHILLBrig. Gen. Paula G. Thornhill is Commandant, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The institute supports national defense by providing graduate, post-graduate, and professional education and research programs for Air Force, sister service, and foreign officers and civilians in pertinent scientific and technical disciplines. 
General Thornhill entered the Air Force in 1980 as a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, where she later returned as an instructor and executive officer to the Dean of the Faculty. She has been assigned to the Air Staff, Joint Staff, U.S. Strategic Command and Office of the Secretary of Defense. The general has commanded a support group, served as Dean of Faculty and Academic Programs at the National War College, and was special assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Prior to her current assignment, she was the Principal Director, Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. **EDUCATION** 
1980 Bachelor of Science degree in history, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo. 
1984 Master of Arts degree in history, Stanford University, Calif. 
1991 Doctor of Philosophy degree in history, Oxford University, England 
1997 Distinguished graduate, Master of Science degree in national security studies, National War College, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C. 
1999 Seminar XXI - Foreign Political and International Relations, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge **ASSIGNMENTS** 
1. June 1980 - December 1980, student, Aircraft Maintenance Officers' Course, Chanute Air Force Base, Ill. 
2. January 1981 - July 1982, flightline supervisor, 60th Military Airlift Wing, Travis
AFB, Calif. 
3. July 1982 - August 1983, officer-in-charge, Programs and Mobility, 60th Military Airlift Wing, Travis AFB, Calif. 
4. September 1983 - December 1984, graduate student, Stanford University, Calif. 
5. January 1985 - June 1986, instructor of history, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.
6. July 1986 - May 1987, special assistant to the Dean for Graduate Programs, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo. 
7. June 1987 - September 1988, executive officer to the Dean of the Faculty, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo. 
8. September 1988 - August 1991, tutor and doctor of philosophy candidate, Oxford University, England 
9. August 1991 - June 1992, special assistant to the Commander-in-Chief, Strategic Air Command, Offutt AFB, Neb. 
10. June 1992 - December 1993, Chief, Policy and Strategy Branch, Office of the Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Strategic Command Staff Group, Offutt AFB, Neb. 
11. February 1994 - August 1996, Assistant for Plans and Programs, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Requirements, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. 
12. August 1996 - June 1997, student, National War College, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C. 
13. June 1997 - June 1999, Deputy Director, Chief of Staff of the Air Force Operations Group, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. 
14. June 1999 - July 2001, Commander, 50th Support Group, Schriever AFB, Colo. 
15. July 2001 - March 2004, Dean of Faculty and Academic Programs, National War College, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C. 
16. March 2004 - September 2005, special assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. 
17. October 2005 - July 2006, Principal Director, Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
18. August 2006 - present, Commandant, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio**MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS** 
Defense Superior Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters 
Legion of Merit 
Defense Meritorious Service Medal 
Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster 
Joint Service Commendation Medal 
Joint Service Achievement Medal **EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION** 
Second Lieutenant May 28, 1980 
First Lieutenant May 28, 1982 
Captain May 28, 1984 
Major May 1, 1992 
Lieutenant Colonel Feb. 1, 1995 
Colonel May 1, 1999 
Brigadier General May 3, 2006 
(Current as of September 2006)
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