Colonel Benjamin B. Hatch is the Commandant of Air University’s Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. As the world’s premier in-residence and distance-learning professional military education college for mid-career officers and civilians, Air Command and Staff College focuses on the education and development of air-minded joint leaders. Each year, the College graduates approximately 500 resident and over 26,000 nonresident students from all U.S. military services, federal agencies, and 65 partner nations.
Colonel Hatch received his commission in 2001 through Officer Training School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, and has spent much of his career as an Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) special agent conducting and supervising felony-level criminal, fraud, counterterrorism, and counterintelligence investigations and operations. A combat veteran of tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, he has commanded at the wing, squadron, and detachment level. Col Hatch completed two assignments on the Headquarters Air Staff as a program manager and policy action officer, as well as a joint tour at the Pentagon on the Joint Staff J-39 where he supervised support to sensitive global plans and operations. He holds qualifications as a military parachutist, pathfinder, and SCUBA diver and has an extensive background in Air Force Special Warfare.
EDUCATION
2001 Bachelor of Arts, Psychology, Hawaii Pacific University, Honolulu, Hawaii
2002 Aerospace Basic Course, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2006 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2008 Master of Arts, Government, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.
2013 Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala. (by correspondence)
2015 Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2018 Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2021 Arctic Region Security Orientation Course, Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies, Anchorage, Alaska
2024 Fellow, SHIELD Executive Program in Global Space and Deterrence, University of Southern California, Price School of Public Policy and Viterbi School of Engineering, Los Angeles, Calif.
ASSIGNMENTS
1. December 2001–November 2003, Special Agent, AFOSI 33rd Field Investigations Sq, Andrews AFB, Md.
2. November 2003–March 2004, Team Chief and Detail Leader, Protective Service Detail, Coalition Provisional Authority, Baghdad, Iraq. Later, Team Chief and Detail Leader, Personal Protective Service Detail for Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi, United Nations Envoy to Iraq, Baghdad, Iraq
3. March 2004–September 2005, Personal Security Adviser to the Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and later the 18th Chief of Staff of the Air Force, AFOSI 33rd Field Investigations Squadron, Andrews AFB, Md.
4. September 2005–July 2008, Chief, MAJCOM Investigations; Chief Training Development and Support; Chief AFOSI and Senior Officer Matters, Office of the Air Force Inspector General (SAF/IGQ), Pentagon, Va.
5. July 2008–July 2009, Commander, AFOSI Detachment 613, Kunsan Air Base, Republic of Korea
6. July 2009–April 2011, Commander, AFOSI Detachment 113, Hill AFB, Utah
7. May 2011–May 2012, Commander, AFOSI Expeditionary Detachment 2413 (Task Force Black), Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan
8. July 2012–July 2014, Air Force Counterintelligence Program Manager, Office of the Air Force Inspector General (SAF/IGX), Pentagon, Va. (concurrently, served December 2013 – June 2014 as an executive officer for the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board Study on Defense of Forward USAF Bases, Pentagon, Va.)
9. July 2014–June 2015, Student, Air Command & Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
10. June 2015–August 2016, Operations Officer, Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, J-39, Pentagon, Va. (September 2015–January 2016, Liaison to the National Military Command Center and Battle Watch Captain, Operations Team 3)
11. August 2016–July 2017, Chief, Tactical Security Branch, Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, J-39, Pentagon, Va.
12. July 2017–May 2018, Student, Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
13. July 2018–July 2020, Commander, 7th Field Investigations Squadron, Joint Base Andrews, Md.
14. August 2020–June 2021, Vice Commander, 6th Field Investigations Region, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii
15. June 2021–July 2024, Commander, 6th Field Investigations Region (Wing-equivalent), Joint Base Pearl HarborHickam, Hawaii
16. July 2024-Present, Commandant, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS
1. June 2015–August 2016, Operations Officer, Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, J-39, Pentagon, Va. (September 2015–January 2016, Liaison to the National Military Command Center and Battle Watch Captain, Operations Team 3), as a lieutenant colonel
2. August 2016–July 2017, Chief, Tactical Security Branch, Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, J-39, Pentagon, Va., as a lieutenant colonel MAJOR AWARDS AND
DECORATIONS
Legion of Merit Bronze Star Medal with oak leaf cluster
Defense Meritorious Service Medal Meritorious Service Medal with silver oak leaf cluster
Combat Action Medal
Japan Defense Cooperation Medal (Japan Air Self Defense Force)
OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS
2006 SAF/IG Action Officer of the Year
2011 AFOSI Detachment of the Year, as Commander
2011 Director of National Intelligence National Counterintelligence Award: Investigations Team
2012 DoD Counterintelligence Award
2015 Dean’s Award, Air Command and Staff College, for Outstanding Research in Military Studies for Blue Horizons Paper titled, “Optimizing Dispersed Air Operations: A Concept to Find Suitable Improvised Airfields in a Contested Environment.”
2018 The General Charles A. Horner Award, Air War College
PUBLICATIONS
“The Future of Strategic Information and Cyber-Enabled Information Operations,” Journal of Strategic Security 12, no. 4 (2019): 69-89.
“Defining a Class of Cyber Weapons as WMD: An Examination of the Merits,” Journal of Strategic Security 11, no. 1 (2018): 43-61. A variant of this article was also published by the Air Force Center for Unconventional Weapons Studies, Air University, Maxwell AFB, Ala., in December 2017.
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant December 20, 2001
First Lieutenant December 20, 2003
Captain December 20, 2005
Major December 01, 2011
Lieutenant Colonel February 1, 2015
Colonel February 1, 2021
(CURRENT AS OF JULY 2024)