Col. D. Landon Phillips is the Commander of the 48th Mission Support Group at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England. The 48th Mission Support Group is the second largest in USAFE, with 2,000 personnel, 601 facilities, 1,300 military family housing units valued at $5.6 billion, as well as the largest AAFES and DeCA facilities in the U.K., and five DoDEA schools across three bases.
Col. Phillips was commissioned through ROTC in 1999 upon graduation from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He has served in a variety of a base-level Civil Engineer and major command staff assignments to include Squadron, Detachment, Flight, and Company Commander assignments in garrison and deployed. He has deployed twice to Iraq, three times to Afghanistan and completed a short tour in Incirlik AB, Turkey.
Prior to assuming his current position, he served as the Programs Integration Section Chief, Combined Joint Engineer Branch, Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan.
EDUCATION
1999 Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn.
2000 Aerospace Basic Course (In Residence), Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2003 Master of Science Degree in Environmental and Engineering Management, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
2005 Explosive Ordnance Disposal School, NAVSCHOLEOD, Eglin AFB, Fla.
2006 Squadron Officer School (In Residence), Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2010 Air Command and Staff College (Correspondence), Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2013 Air War College (Correspondence), Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2014 Distinguished Graduate, Air Command and Staff College (In Residence), Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2017 Distinguished Graduate, U.S. Naval War College (In Residence), Newport, R.I.
2017 Graduate Certificate in Ethics and Emerging Military Technology, U.S. Naval War College, Newport, R.I.
ASSIGNMENTS
1. January 2000 – August 2001, Programming Engineer, 42nd Civil Engineer Squadron, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2. August 2001 – April 2003, AFIT Student, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
3. April 2003 – July 2004, Readiness Officer, Incirlik AB, Turkey
4. July 2004 – April 2005, Student, Naval School Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Eglin AFB, Fla.
5. April 2005 – July 2008, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight Commander, 60th Civil Engineer Squadron, Travis AFB, Calif.
6. July 2008 – May 2011, Commander, Detachment 63, HQ ACC, Indian Head, Md.
7. May 2011 – June 2012, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Program Director, HQ USAF/A7CXR, Pentagon, Va.
8. June 2012 – July 2013, Air Force Congressional Budget Liaison for MILCON, Military Family Housing, BRAC, SAF/FMBL, Pentagon, Va.
9. July 2013 – July 2014, Student, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
10. July 2014 – July 2016, Commander, 31st Civil Engineer Squadron, Aviano AB, Italy
11. July 2016 – June 2017, Student, U.S. Naval War College, Newport, R.I.
12. June 2017 – June 2019, Commander, 21st Civil Engineer Squadron, Peterson AFB, Colo.
13. July 2019 – July 2020, Programs Integration Section Chief, Combined Joint Engineer Branch, Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan, Kabul, Afghanistan
14. July 2020 – present, 48th Mission Support Group, RAF Lakenheath, England
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Bronze Star Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Defense Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters
Air Force Commendation Medal
Army Commendation Medal
Air Force Achievement Medal
Air Force Combat Action Medal
Army Combat Action Badge
Meritorious Unit Award with three oak leaf clusters
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with three oak leaf clusters
Army Meritorious Unit Commendation
Cross of Merit of the Minister of Defence of the Czech Republic
Czech Republic Service Abroad Medal
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant January 2000
First Lieutenant January 2002
Captain January 2004
Major October 2009
Lieutenant Colonel December 2013
Colonel January 2020
(Current as of July 2020)