Colonel William Lutmer

Commander, 31st Operations Group United States Air Force

COLONEL WILLIAM D. LUTMER Col William D. Lutmer is the Commander, 31st Operations Group, 31st Fighter Wing, Aviano Air Base, Italy. The Operations Group consists of eight squadrons that continually support operations and exercises across three Combatant Commands. The wide-ranging operational capabilities are brought by Airmen from the 31st Operations Support Squadron, 56th and 57th Rescue Squadrons, 717th and 731st Expeditionary Attack Squadrons, 510th and 555th Fighter Squadrons, and the 606th Air Control Squadron. Col Lutmer is a graduate of The Ohio State University and received his commission through AFROTC. Col Lutmer is a command pilot with over 2,600 hours in the F-16. He has four combat deployments supporting Operations IRAQI FREEDOM, ENDURING FREEDOM and INHERENT RESOLVE. He has held a variety of flying positions to include F-16 fighter squadron commander, F-16 instructor pilot, flight examiner, weapons officer, and United States Air Force Weapons School instructor. Prior to this position, Col Lutmer was the Future Operations Division Chief for the North American Aerospace Defense Command. EDUCATION 2001 Bachelor of Science in Physics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 2002 Air and Space Basic Course, Maxwell AFB, Alabama 2009 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Alabama 2010 USAF Weapons School, Nellis AFB, Nevada 2012 Air Command and Staff College, by correspondence 2012 Masters of Systems Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 2020 Masters of Science in Airpower Strategy and Technology Integration, Air University, Maxwell AFB, AL ASSIGNMENTS 1. January 2002 – December 2003, Student, Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training, Sheppard AFB, TX 2. January 2004 – November 2004, Student, F-16 Flying Training, Luke AFB, AZ 3. November 2004 – November 2007, Squadron Scheduler, Electronic Combat Pilot, 14th Fighter Squadron, Misawa AB, Japan 4. November 2007 – June 2010, Assistant Chief of Weapons, Flight Commander, F-16 Evaluator Pilot, 77th Fighter Squadron, Shaw AFB, SC 5. January 2011 – January 2012, Chief of Weapons and Tactics, 80th Fighter Squadron, 8th Operational Support Squadron, Kunsan AB, Republic of Korea 6. January 2012 – August 2014, Assistant Director of Operations, 16th Weapons Squadron, Nellis AFB, NV 7. August 2014 – August 2015, Director of Operations, 414th Combat Training Squadron (RED FLAG), Nellis AFB, NV 8. August 2015 – January 2016, Assistant Director of Operations, 55th Fighter Squadron, Shaw AFB, SC 9. January 2016 – May 2017, Director of Operations, 55th Fighter Squadron, Shaw AFB, SC 10. June 2017 – June 2018, Commander, 80th Fighter Squadron, Kunsan AB, Republic of Korea 11. June 2018 – June 2019, Air Superiority Branch Chief, Combat Air Forces Division, Pentagon 12. June 2019 – June 2020, Blue Horizons Fellow, Maxwell AFB, AL 13. June 2020 – June 2022, Aerospace Defense Plans Branch Chief, NORAD and USNORTHCOM J55, Peterson SFB, CO 14. June 2022 – May 2023, Future Plans Division Chief, NORAD J35, Peterson SFB, CO 15. May 2023 – Present, Commander, 31st Operations Group, Aviano AB, Italy SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS 1. June 2020 – May 2022, Aerospace Defense Plans Branch Chief, NORAD and USNORTHCOM J5, Peterson SFB, CO, as a Lt Col 2. May 2022 – May 2023, Future Operations Division Chief, NORAD J3, Peterson SFB, CO, as a Colonel FLIGHT INFORMATION Rating: Command Pilot Flight Hours: 2900 Aircraft Flown: T-37, T-38, AT-38, F-16C/D MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS Meritorious Service Medal with six oak leaf clusters Air Medal with eight oak leaf clusters Joint Service Commendation Medal Air and Space Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION Second Lieutenant, December 7, 2001 First Lieutenant, December 1, 2003 Captain, December 1, 2005 Major, December 1, 2011 Lieutenant Colonel, November 1, 2016 Colonel, May 1, 2022 (CURRENT AS OF MAY 2023)