Lieutenant Colonel Patrick B. “Howdy” McLaughlin

Lt Col Patrick McLaughlin currently serves as a National Defense Fellow at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts. As a member of the Air Force Fellows program, he conducts in-depth research on a broad spectrum of national security topics to analyze and improve Department of Defense strategies and policies.
Lt Col McLaughlin hails from El Paso, Texas, and earned his commission from the United States Air Force Academy in 2004. He is a command pilot with more than 3,500 hours in the C-17A accumulated over several operational tours in Air Mobility Command, Pacific Air Forces and Air Education and Training Command. In addition to his four combat deployments, Lt Col McLaughlin has planned and executed humanitarian and disaster relief missions in Haiti, Japan, Liberia, Afghanistan, the Caribbean, and the Southeastern United States. Additionally, he has served in several staff positions at the Numbered Air Force, Sub-Unified Command, Combatant Command and Multi-National Force levels as an Aide de Camp, Joint Plans Officer and Political Military Affairs Strategist. Finally, Lt Col McLaughlin held several supervisory and leadership positions before being selected to command the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, where he led the primary airlift effort for both the 2021 Afghanistan Retrograde and Operation ALLIES REFUGE—the largest non-combatant evacuation operation in Air Force history.
Prior to his current assignment, Lt Col McLaughlin served as Wing Chief of Staff and C-17A Formal Training Unit (FTU) Evaluator Pilot, 97th Air Mobility Wing, Altus Air Force Base (AFB), Oklahoma.

EDUCATION
2004 Bachelor of Science, Military History, United States Air Force Academy, Colo.
2009 Master of Arts, Military Science, American Military University, Manassas, Va.
2010 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2016 Air Command and Staff College, Political-Military Affairs Strategist Program, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2016 Master of Arts, Military Operations Arts and Sciences, Air University, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2017 Joint and Coalition Warfighting School, Joint Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Va.
2022 Air War College in correspondence, Maxwell AFB, Ala.

ASSIGNMENTS
1. August 2004 – March 2005, Student, Introductory Flight Training, US Air Force Academy, Colo.
2. March 2005 – June 2006, Student, Undergraduate Pilot Training, Laughlin AFB, Texas
3. June 2006 – September 2006, C-17A Initial Qualification, 58th Airlift Squadron, Altus AFB, Okla.
4. September 2006 – May 2010, C-17A Airdrop Aircraft Commander, Executive Officer and Pilot Scheduler, 16th Airlift Squadron, Joint Base (JB) Charleston, S.C
5. May 2010 – April 2012, C-17A Instructor Pilot, Assistant Flight Commander and Flight Commander, Wing Airlift
Current Operations, 3rd Operations Support Squadron, JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska
6. April 2012 – March 2013, Aide-de-Camp to the Commander, Eleventh Air Force, Alaskan Command, Alaska
NORAD Region, Joint Task Force—Alaska, JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska
7. March 2013 – May 2013, Director of Staff, 517th Airlift Squadron, JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska
8. May 2013 – June 2015, C-17A Evaluator Pilot, Chief of Squadron Training, 10th Airlift Squadron and Director,
Inspector General Inspections, 62d Airlift Wing, JB Lewis-McChord, Wash.
9. June 2015 – June 2016, Student, Intermediate Developmental Education, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
10. June 2016 – September 2018, Joint Plans Officer, North American Aerospace Defense Command and United
States Northern Command, Strategy, Policy & Plans Directorate (J5), Peterson AFB, Colo.
11. September 2018 – July 2020, Director of Operations, 8th Airlift Squadron, JB Lewis-McChord, Wash.
12. August 2020 – April 2021, Chief of Safety, 62d Airlift Wing, JB Lewis-McChord, Wash.
13. May 2021 – July 2022, Commander, 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, Al Udeid AB, Qatar
14. July 2022 – June 2024, C-17A FTU Evaluator Pilot and Wing Chief of Staff, 97th Air Mobility Wing, Altus AFB, Okla.
15. July 2024 – Present, National Defense Fellow, The Fletcher School, Tufts University, Medford, Mass.

SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS
June 2016 – September 2018, Joint Plans Officer, North American Aerospace Defense Command and United States Northern Command, Strategy, Policy & Plans Directorate (J5), Peterson AFB, CO as a major

FLIGHT INFORMATION
Rating: Command Pilot
Flight hours: 3,800
Combat Hours: 1,000
Aircraft flown: C-17A, KC-46A, T-1A, T-6A, DA-20

MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Bronze Star Medal with “V” device
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters
Air Medal with nine oak leaf clusters
Aerial Achievement Medal
Air and Space Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
Air and Space Achievement Medal
Gallant Unit Citation

PUBLICATIONS
“Scipio Africanus and the Second Punic War: Joint Lessons for Center of Gravity Analysis,” Joint Force Quarterly,
National Defense University Press, January 2018

EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant June 2, 2004
First Lieutenant June 2, 2006
Captain June 2, 2008
Major July 1, 2014
Lieutenant Colonel March 1, 2019

(CURRENT AS OF MAY 2024)