1. Lieutenant Colonel Michael A. Swift, USAF (Ret.)
Biography
Lt Col Michael Swift was born and raised in Ogden, Utah and graduated from Weber
High School in 1982. He received his Bachelors Degree in Business Management from Weber
State University in 1989 and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant through the AFROTC
program at the University of Utah in 1989 and was named a Distinguished Graduate. His first
assignment was at Mather AFB, California where he earned his navigator wings.
After receiving his wings, Lt Col Swift was assigned to Castle AFB, California where he
became qualified in the B-52 and in 1991 he was assigned to the 644th Bomb Squadron at K.I.
Sawyer AFB, Michigan. His next assignment was to Randolph AFB, Texas as an instructor
navigator at the Joint Undergraduate Navigator School where he trained students for the Air
Force, Navy, and many international countries. In 1996 he attended Squadron Officer School
where he was again named a Distinguished Graduate. In the spring of 1998, he was called back
to the B-52 and assigned to Minot AFB, North Dakota as an Evaluator Radar Navigator and the
5th Operations Group and 5th Bomb Wing Executive Officer. Here, he participated in Operation
DESERT FOX and struck targets in Iraq as part of the largest air-launched cruise missile strike
in aviation history.
In 2001, Lt Col Swift attended Air Command and Staff College, at Maxwell AFB,
Alabama and the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia. 2002 brought him to United
States Strategic Command, Offutt AFB, Nebraska as the Chief of Bomber Operations and a
Bomber Employment Officer. In 2005, Lt Col Swift became the Commander of AFROTC
Detachment 860 at Utah State University in Logan, Utah - the very same school and detachment
he attended as a university freshman.
In 2008, Lt Col Swift returned to Minot AFB as the Deputy Commander of the 5th
Operations Group. From October 2008, to February 2009, he deployed to Andersen AFB, Guam
as the 36th Operations Group Deputy Commander. In November of the same year he became
the Director of Staff for the 5th Bomb Wing.
In September 2010 he arrived at Offutt AFB, Nebraska and was the Chief of the Tactics
Review Branch, Joint Functional Component Command for Global Strike at United States
Strategic Command. On June 1, 2012, Lt Col Swift retired after 22 years, 4 months and 22 days
of active duty service in the United States Air Force.
From August 2012 to July of 2014, Lt Col Swift served as the Air Force Junior ROTC
Senior Aerospace Studies Instructor for Lincoln Public Schools in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Lt Col Swift is a Master Navigator with over 2,000 flight hours in the T-37, T-41, T-43A,
and B-52G/H aircraft.
He and his wife, Shelly, have been married since 1986 and have five children. They
currently reside in Fruit Heights, Utah.