Lt Col Heidenreich is a Professor of Strategy and Security Studies at the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. He educates a diverse cohort of 45-48 Air and Space Force officers as well as sister service and international officers through the Department of the Air Force’s Advanced Studies Group Program. Graduates are educated in military theory, policy, and history and are required to write a thesis. Lieutenant Colonel Heidenreich advises three students through their research and writing annually and is an additional reader on three additional theses.
Lieutenant Colonel Heidenreich is from Fargo, North Dakota and graduated from Concordia College in neighboring Moorhead, Minnesota. Upon graduation he enlisted into the Air Force in August 2001 and attended the Defense Language Institute, Presidio of Monterey, California and graduated as a Russian Linguist in November 2002. In February 2005, he earned his commission and attended Intelligence Officers School at Goodfellow AFB, Texas and graduated in November 2005. He has served in a number of intelligence positions supporting unit-level flying operations, the National Security Agency (NSA), Headquarters AF/A9, and as the Director of Operations supporting defensive cyber operations for Joint Force Headquarters Department of Defense Information Networks (JFHQ-DoDIN) and USTRANSCOM.
He has twice deployed, once with Combined Forces Special Operations Command Central, as a HUMINT analyst, and once to Afghanistan with the Drug Enforcement Agency’s Afghan Threat Finance Cell. Additionally, he supported OEF/OIF executing 81 sorties as a Predator/Reaper Mission Coordinator. Prior to his current position, Lieutenant Colonel Heidenreich was an AFIT Student, Air Force Institution of Technology – Civilian Institution, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama.
EDUCATION
2001 Bachelor of Arts, Concordia College, Moorhead, MN
2006 Air and Space Basic Course, Maxwell AFB, AL
2006 F-16 Intelligence Formal Training Unit, Luke AFB, AZ
2010 Masters of Business Administration, Benedictine University, Lisle IL
2010 Intelligence Senior Master Skills Course (ISR 300), Goodfellow AFB, TX
2012 Squadron Officer School In Residence, Maxwell AFB, AL
2015 Masters of Science, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
2015 Network Warfare Bridge Course, Hurlburt Field, FL
2015 Cyber Warfare Operations Course, Hurlburt Field, FL
2015 Cyber Vulnerability Assessment/Hunter Initial Qualification Training, Hurlburt Field, FL
2018 Cyber Senior Master Skills Course (Cyber 300), Wright-Patterson AFB, OH
2019 Master of Military Art and Science, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, AL
2023 Doctor of Philosophy, US History, Auburn University, Auburn, AL
ASSIGNMENTS
August 2001 – March 2003, Student, 316th Training Squadron, Defense Language Institute, Monterey, CA
March 2003 – November 2004, Russian Linguist, 93d Intelligence Squadron, Lackland Air Force Base (AFB), TX
February 2005 – October 2005, Student, 315th Training Squadron, Goodfellow AFB, TX
October 2005 – October 2006, Air Intelligence Officer, 19th Weapons Squadron, Nellis AFB, NV
October 2006 – January 2008, Assistant Chief Weapons School Mission Planning, 19th Weapons Squadron, Nellis AFB, NV
January 2008 – July 2009, OIC Weapons School Mission Planning Cell, 19th Weapons Squadron, Nellis AFB, NV
July 2009 – June 2010, Chief Integration Flight, 23d Information Operations Squadron, Lackland AFB, TX
June 2010 – January 2011, Flight Commander, Integration, 23d Information Operations Squadron, Lackland AFB, TX
January 2011 – December 2011, Flight Commander, Intelligence, 23d Information Operations Squadron, Lackland, AFB, TX
December 2011 – February 2012, Flight Commander, Intelligence, 318th Operational Support Squadron, Lackland AFB, TX
February 2012 – July 2013, Assistant Director of Operations, 93d Intelligence Squadron, Lackland AFB, TX
July 2013 – July 2015, Threat Analyst, HQ USAF/A9, Pentagon, VA
July 15 - November 2015, Student, Cyber Vulnerability Assessment/Hunter Initial Qualification Training, Hurlburt Field, FL
November 2015 - March 2017, Director of Operations, 837th Cyberspace Operations Squadron, Scott AFB, IL
March 2017 – July 2018, Air University Fellow, Maxwell AFB, AL
July 2018 – June 2019, Student, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, AL
June 2019 – August 2020, Academic Instructor/Advisor, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, AL
August 2020 – June 2023, AFIT Student, Air Force Institute of Technology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL
June 2023 – Present, Professor, Strategy and Security Studies, School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, Maxwell AFB, AL
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal (2OLC)
Joint Service Commendation Medal
Air Force Commendation Medal (3OLC)
PUBLICATIONS
Benjamin Heidenreich. Review of Moss, Robert F. The Lost Southern Chefs: A History of Commercial Dining in the Nineteenth-Century South. The West Tennessee Historical Society Papers, Vol LXXVII 2023.
Benjamin Heidenreich. Review of Goodwin, Gerald F, Race in the Crucible of War: African American Servicemen and the War in Vietnam. H-War, H-Net Reviews. November, 2024.
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant: February 18, 2005
First Lieutenant: February 18, 2007
Captain: February 18, 2009
Major: July 1, 2015
Lieutenant Colonel: December 1, 2019