Biographies

Colonel DOUGLAS A. KABEL

Col. Douglas A. Kabel serves as the 325th Fighter Wing Deputy Commander at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. The fighter wing’s mission is to project unrivaled combat airpower for America. The wing is currently transitioning to the F-35A Lightning II aircraft and upon completion, will become the Air Force’s newest operational fighter wing with three F-35A squadrons tasked to maintain combat readiness in support of national defense.

As the installation Deputy Commander, Colonel Kabel supports the Commander in leading the 23,000 Airmen, civilians, contractors and families who call Tyndall AFB home. The 325th FW hosts 19 tenant units from multiple major commands and across several military mission sets. These supported mission partners include First Air Force (Air Forces Northern), the 601st Air Operations Center, the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group, the Air Force Civil Engineer Center, the 337th Air Control Squadron and Silver Flag.

Colonel Kabel earned his commission through the ROTC at the University of Central Florida in 2000, and his pilot wings at Columbus AFB, Mississippi in 2002. Prior to assuming his current position, he served as Deputy Director, Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration, Headquarters Air Combat Command, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia.

Colonel Kabel is a graduated flying squadron commander and has served as an instructor pilot and flight evaluator in the T-6A Texan II, instructor pilot and flight evaluator in the T-38C Talon, flight lead in the F-15E Strike Eagle and instructor pilot in the T-37B Tweet. He has deployed in support of operations Enduring Freedom and New Dawn where he flew over 100 combat missions totaling more than 400 flight hours. Colonel Kabel is a command pilot with more than 3,600 flying hours in the F-15E, T-37B, T-6A and AT-38A/B/C.

EDUCATION
2000 Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Fla.
2001 Aerospace Basic Course, Air University, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2007 Squadron Officer School, Air University, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2010 Master of Science, Political Science, American Military University, Manassas, Va.
2010 Air Command and Staff College, Air University, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2019 Air War College, Air University, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2021 JPME II, Joint Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Va.

ASSIGNMENTS
1. August 2000 – March 2001, Assistant to the Executive Officer, 6th Operations Group, MacDill AFB, Fla.
2. March 2001 – April 2002, Student Pilot, 14th Operations Group, Columbus AFB, Miss.
3. April 2002 – September 2005, T-37B Instructor Pilot, Scheduler, Programmer and Chief of Instructor Development, 41st Flying Training Squadron, Columbus AFB, Miss.
4. September 2005 – November 2005, Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals Student Pilot, 88th Flying Training Squadron, Sheppard AFB, Texas
5. November 2005 – August 2006, F-15E Student Pilot, 333rd Fighter Squadron, Seymour-Johnson AFB, N.C..
6. August 2006 – July 2009, F-15E Flight Lead, Ops Group Executive Officer and Flight Commander, 492nd Fighter Squadron, RAF Lakenheath, U.K.
7. July 2009 – July 2011, Chief Air Interdiction Plans and Senior Offensive Duty Officer, 607th Air Operations Center, Osan AB, Republic of Korea.
8. July 2011 – June 2014, T-38C Instructor Pilot, Evaluator Pilot, Wing Director of Staff and Chief of Standardization and Evaluation, 87th Flying Training Squadron, Laughlin AFB, Texas
9. June 2014 – July 2015, T-38C Instructor Pilot and Aide-de-Camp to the Commander, Air Education and Training Command, JB San Antonio-Randolph, Texas
10. July 2015 – September 2016, Director of Operations, 559th Flying Training Squadron, JB San Antonio-Randolph, Texas
11. September 2016 – August 2018, Commander, 455th Flying Training Squadron, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla.
12. August 2018 – July 2019, Deputy Commander, 479th Flying Training Group, NAS Pensacola, Fla.
13. July 2019 – June 2021, Branch Chief, Force Generation, and Agility Ops/T-38A Adversary Air Pilot, Headquarters Air Combat Command Directorate of Operations, JB Langley-Eustis, Va.
14. July 2021 – July 2022, Deputy Director, Headquarters ACC Directorate of Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration, JB Langley-Eustis, Va.
15. July 2022 – Present, Deputy Commander, 325th Fighter Wing, Tyndall AFB, Fla. 

FLIGHT INFORMATION
Rating: Command Pilot
Flight hours: Over 3,400
Aircraft flown: T-37B, (A)T-38A/B/C, T-6A and F-15E.

MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Legion of Merit
Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters
Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters
Air Force Combat Action Medal
Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Air Force Achievement Medal
Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medal 

(Current as of August 2023)