Erik W. Goepner

Colonel Erik W. Goepner is the U.S. Air Force fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Colonel Goepner is a career security forces officer with assignments as a flight leader, operations officer, and commander as well as several staff positions. In 2010, he commanded Provincial Reconstruction Team Zabul in support of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. During this deployment, he led a joint team responsible for enabling Afghan governance and reconstruction efforts at the district and provincial levels. He also deployed in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM as commander, 886th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, Camp Bucca, Iraq, conducting detainee operations. Colonel Goepner’s staff assignments included director of the Commander’s Action Group for Air Combat Command, action officer at the Air Force Doctrine Center, and rotations with the Air Force’s Foreign Liaison Division and Engine Room as an Air Force intern. Colonel Goepner graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1989 with a B.A. in political science, the George Washington University in 1999 with an M.A. in organizational management, and the Air University in 2004 with an M.S. in military operational art and science. His military awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal with oak leaf cluster and the Combat Action Ribbon.