We are excited to welcome Rob Hodges to R3.  He recently retired from the United States Air Force as a Master EOD Technician and Chief Master Sergeant after more than 30 years of service.  Following graduation from EOD School, he served in a variety of operational and staff assignments, notably as the Command EOD Functional Manager at all three USAF combat commands:  United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), and Air Combat Command (ACC).   Rob has served in a variety of Joint, Combined, and SOF positions and served throughout the U. S. Central Command region including combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.   His last three deployed assignments include:  Command EOD Functional Manager at HQ Air Force’s Central-Forward, Superintendent J-3/5 and the Air Force Senior Enlisted Advisor to the commander at CJTF Troy (Iraq), and most recently as Chief Enlisted Manager, 966 Operating Location Bravo at CJTF Paladin (Afghanistan).

With his selection as the EOD Career Field Manager, Rob attained the most prominent senior enlisted leadership position for Air Force EOD.  He served in this capacity for over four years providing leadership, guidance and enlisted force management in all facets of operations, training, equipping and employing EOD assets. He was also responsible for guiding service pipeline and expeditionary training requirements for a total force of 1,500 Airmen.  His final assignment was Command EOD Functional Manager for Air Combat Command, responsible for over 360 personnel across 12 locations.   In that role, he guided modernization for the EOD career field and directed initial operational testing of emerging technologies.  He also acted as force provider to Headquarters Air Force J31, representing Air Force capabilities to the joint EOD community and developing sourcing solutions to meet combatant commander requirements.

Rob is a 2011 graduate of the Joint Special Operations Forces Senior Enlisted Academy, MacDill AFB, FL.  He studied USAF Enterprise Management at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, leadership at the Gettysburg Leadership Experience, the Center for Creative Leadership, the Chief Master Sergeant Leadership Course and is a 2009 graduate of Keystone, National Defense University, Alexandria, VA.