Colonel Clarence W. Lukes is the Vice Commandant of Cadets, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado. As Vice Commandant, he assists the Commandant in overseeing the 4,000-member cadet wing and more than 200 Air Force and civilian support personnel.

Prior to assuming his current assignment, he served as the Chief, War Planning and Policy Division, Headquarters, United States Air Force. He managed all Air Force Global Force Management policy, mobilizations, assignment of forces, and deployment systems and was charged with developing war planning and execution documents. He was also responsible for a $1.4B manpower allotment account and a $32B reserve pay account. He served as the Air Staff’s OPR for Adaptive Planning and major Joint Strategic Planning Systems documents.

Colonel Lukes entered the Air Force after graduating from the United States Air Force Academy in 1992. He has commanded at multiple levels, most recently as the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Commander where he was responsible for 5,600 rotational airmen in six Groups and seven countries performing Strike, ISR, Personnel Recovery, Airlift, Air Refueling and Electronic Attack missions. Additionally, he provided base operating support to over 6,000 personnel from four services and five nations. Colonel Lukes is a command pilot with over 3,000 hours of flying time in the C-130E/H, C-9, T-1A and UH-1.

United States Air Force Academy Prep School, Colorado Springs, Colo. (1988)

Bachelor of Science Degree in General Engineering, United States Air Force Academy, Colo. (1992)

Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala. (1999)

Air Command and Staff College by Correspondence (2004)

Advanced Study of Air Mobility, Ft Dix, N.J. (2006)

Air War College by Correspondence (2007)

Joint Advanced Warfighting School, Norfolk, Va. (2011)

Executive Leadership Development Program, Center for Creative Leadership, Greensboro, NC. (2015)

Operations Research Analyst, Air Force C4 Agency, Scott AFB, Ill. (October 1993 – June 1996)

Chief of Safety, Flight Commander, Executive Officer, 50th Airlift (June 1996 – August 2002)
Squadron, Little Rock AFB, Ark.

Chief of Standardization and Evaluation, Assistant Operations Officer,36th Airlift Squadron, Yokota AB, Japan (August 2002 – June 2004)

Deputy Inspector General, 374th Airlift Wing, Yokota AB, Japan (June 2004 – May 2005)

Student, Advanced Study of Air Mobility, Fort Dix, N.J. (May 2005 – July 2006)

Chief Contingency Analyses Branch, A9 Studies & Analyses, Assessments and Lessons Learned, Headquarters United States Air Force, Washington, D.C. (July 2006 – February 2008)

Special Assistant to the Commander, 570th Contingency Response Group, Travis AFB, Calif. (February 2008 – April 2008)

Commander, 570th Global Mobility Squadron, Travis AFB, Calif. (April 2008 – March 2010)

Special Assistant to the Commander, 570th Contingency Response Group, Travis AFB, Calif. (March 2010 – June 2010)

Student, Joint Advanced Warfighting School, Norfolk, Va. (June 2010 – June 2011)

US Transportation Command Liaison to NORAD & US Northern Command, Colorado Springs, Colo. (June 2011 – July 2013)

Vice Commander, 374th Airlift Wing, Yokota Air Base, Japan (July 2013 – June 2015)

Commander, 386th Air Expeditionary Wing, Southwest Asia (June 2015 – June 2016)

Chief, War Planning and Policy, Headquarters United States Air Force, Washington, D.C. (June 2016 – July 2019)
Vice Commandant, United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo. (July 2019 – Present)

Flight Information

Rating: Command Pilot
Flight hours: More than 3,000
Aircraft flown C-130E/H, C-9, T-1A, UH-1

Defense Superior Service Medal

Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster

Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters

Air Medal

Aerial Achievement Medal

Joint Service Commendation Medal

Air Force Commendation Medal

Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal

Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon (Pistol)

Military Distinction Graduate, United States Air Force Academy, 1992

General Smith Trophy,1998

SOS Distinguished Graduate and Outstanding Contributor Award, 1999

Air Force Interservice Rugby Team MVP, 1999

John P. Flynn Award, 2005

HQ Air Force Operational Assessment Team of the Year, 2007

15 EMTF Mobile C2 Unit of the Year, 2009

Gen Mark A. Welsh One Air Force Award, 2018