Lt Col Travis Sheets
Lieutenant Colonel Travis H. Sheets (U.S. Air Force, retired) is deputy commandant of cadets for 4th Battalion.
He enlisted in the Virginia Air National Guard as an F-16 maintenance specialist immediately following high school. He later graduated from the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets and was commissioned through Air Force ROTC Detachment 875 as a Distinguished Graduate.
As an aviator, Lt Col Sheets was a senior pilot with over 3,800 total flight hours and over 2,400 combat hours in Air Force Special Operations aircraft. He progressed to the level of chief pilot and holds multiple type ratings including the Boeing 737. He was also an evaluator pilot and instructor pilot in various light fixed-wing aircraft. He has completed over a dozen contingency and combat deployments throughout USNORTHCOM, EUCOM, CENTCOM, AFRICOM, and PACOM.
He served as the commander of Air Force ROTC Detachment 535 Syracuse University, director of operations for the Secretary of Defense Innovation Board, operations officer on the Joint Staff for Counterterrorism and Special Operations, joint special operation air director, assistant director of operations, and the chief of research-integration-sustainment.
His decorations include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, the Air Medal with 18 oak leaf clusters, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Air Force Combat Action Medal, the Joint Meritorious Unit Award, the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with “V” device, and the Air Reserve Force Meritorious Service Medal along with others.
Academically he has earned distinction as a National Merit Scholar (Coca Cola), Commonwealth Scholar, and an Air University Fellow. His degrees include a Bachelor of Science in economics from Virginia Tech, a Master of Science in sports management with a concentration in coaching from American Military University, and a master’s degree in military art and science from Air University. Additionally, he holds a Professional Innovation Certificate from the University of Michigan Engineering and has co-authored three publications: Targeted Learning Systems applied to Adaptive Flight Training (2018), Applying Identity and Society Awareness to Virtual Learning (2019), and Values-Based Network Leadership in an Interconnected World (2018).
The Elkview, West Virginia native and his wife, the former Kimberly Brace, also a Virginia Tech graduate, are the parents of Avett and Hadley Sheets.
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