Kirk S. Pierce, Lt Gen, USAF (Ret), Senior Advisor

Kirk “Tick” Pierce is a Senior Advisor at the Patriot Group. Prior to retirement, General Pierce served as the Commander, Continental U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command Region; Commander, U.S. Air Forces Northern; Commander, U.S. Air Forces Space; and Commander, 1st Air Force, Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. He retired with more than 35 years of military service. As the Combined/Joint Force Air Component Commander, he was responsible for planning and conducting air defense and air sovereignty operations in the continental United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands; supporting the deployment, sustainment and redeployment of U.S. Air Forces in support of U.S. Northern Command and U.S. Space Command; providing defense support to civil authorities; executing theater security cooperation with partner nations; and planning and executing contingency support operations for National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s human space flight programs. Prior to commanding 1AF, General Pierce served as the Deputy Director, Air National Guard. He is a Command Pilot with over 4,900 hours in the F-16, F-15, and other aircraft. He received his commission from the University of Notre Dame in 1988 and earned his Master of Science, National Security Strategy from the National War College, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C, in 2007. He is also a graduate of several National Security programs through MIT, Syracuse University, and Harvard University.