Colonel (ret.) Michael Ritz is director of the USAF Public Affairs Center of Excellence (PACE).
Enlisting in the California Air National Guard in early 1968, Col Ritz served the 146th Airlift Wing for more than nine years as a still and motion picture photographer and public affairs supervisor. Earning his commission in November 1977, he performed numerous missions at home and overseas as an active duty or reserve status wing public affairs officer before assuming the duties of the 146th Airlift Wing's executive officer in 1994, and wing intelligence chief in 1998. In September 2001 he assumed duties as the National Guard advisor to and associate director of the USAF Counterproliferation Center. He also served as professor of air power studies at the Air War College. Col Ritz's assignments in combat photography, public affairs and intelligence have taken him to a myriad of locations throughout the United States and around the world including Europe, North Africa, the Mediterranean, the Pacific Rim, Korea, Central and South America, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, West Asia, the Middle East, the Arctic and Antarctic. His most recent tours of duty include assignments with Department of Defense, National Guard Bureau, Air Combat Command, Air Mobility Command, and Air Education & Training Command. A military historian and visual media expert, Col Ritz holds a bachelor's degree in drama & motion pictures and a master's degree in military history, with additional post-graduate work in mass communications and air power history. He studied theater and motion pictures at UCLA and California State University, Northridge. He is a resident graduate of Squadron Officer School, Air Command & Staff College and Air War College, graduating with honors in each of those schools. Col Ritz is a recipient the California Air Force Association's prestigious "Air National Guard Field Grade Officer of the Year" and "Military Journalist of the Year" awards, and was selected by the local Ventura County business community as the Oxnard Ambassadors' "Air National Guard Military Citizen of the Year." His most recent screen works include: All Blood Runs Red, Hats In The Ring, Blue Fire, The Cyclist, Desert Of The Lions, Santiago Blue, The Roundtable and Oasis.
Colonel Raymond J. Rottman, USAF, serves as Vice Commandant of the Air War College. His previous assignment was as the Director of Capability Management for SHAPE in Mons Belgium. Col Rottman has over 2,500 hours as a KC-135 Navigator and has commanded an Air Refueling Squadron, Air Refueling Group and an Airlift Wing. His staff assignments include serving as an USAFA instructor, speechwriter to USAFE/CC and later the CSAF, SAF/IA Country Officer for Turkey and Deputy Director of the CSAF/SECAF Executive Action
Group. Col Rottman holds a B.S. degree from Colorado State University and Masters degrees from East Texas State and Naval War College. His professional military education includes SOS by correspondence, Air Command and Staff College by seminar and Naval War College in residence.
