Col. William J. Friday, Jr. is the Mobilization Assistant to the Commander, Second Air Force, Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi. He is responsible for the development, oversight and direction of all operational aspects of Basic Military Training, initial skills training and advanced technical training for the Air Force enlisted force, non-rated operations and support officers. Second Air Force provides training in more than 265 Air Force specialties through 2,014 courses graduating 150,000 Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and international students annually in diverse areas including aircraft maintenance, civil engineering, medical, cyber, avionics, security forces, space and missile operations/maintenance and multiple intelligence disciplines. The command includes training wings at Keesler AFB, Sheppard and Goodfellow Air Force Bases, Texas, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, a training group at Vandenberg AFB, California, and a network of 80 training detachments and operating locations around theworld. Second Air Force also oversees all Air Force Airmen throughout the Joint Expeditionary Tasking/Individual Augmentee training pipeline at several Army training sites across the country.
Colonel Friday received his commission from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1995. He is a career aircraft/munitions maintenance officer and has commanded at the flight, squadron, and group levels. Prior to his current position, he served as the Mobilization Assistant to the Commander of the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex.
EDUCATION
1995 Bachelor of Science degree in military history, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.
2004 Squadron Officer School, by correspondence
2009 Air Command and Staff College, by correspondence
2009 Master's degree in military operational art and science, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2014 Air War College, by correspondence
2015 Leadership Development Program, Center for Creative Leadership, Colorado Springs, Colo.
2018 LOGTECH Program for Executives in Logistics and Technology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2019 Enterprise Leadership Seminar, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
ASSIGNMENTS
June 1995 – December 1995, Propulsion Flight OIC, 305th Component Repair Squadron, McGuire AFB, N.J.
January 1996 – March 1997, Sortie Support Flight OIC, 605th Aircraft Generation Squadron, McGuire AFB, N.J.
April 1997 – February 1998, Sortie Generation Flight Commander, 605th Aircraft Generation Squadron, McGuire AFB, N.J. (August-October 1997, KC-10 AMU/OIC, Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates)
March 1998 – July 1999, Flight Training Officer, 24th Training Squadron, Officer Training School, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
August 1999 – August 2001, Operations Flight Commander, 22d Training Support Squadron, Officer Training School, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
April 2002 – July 2003, Transportation Flight Commander, 908th Logistics Support Squadron, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
August 2003 – September 2004, Commander, 908th Maintenance Operations Flight, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
October 2004 – December 2009, Commander, 908th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
January 2010 - July 2012, Deputy Commander, 908th Maintenance Group, Maxwell AFB, Ala. (April-September 2010, C-130 AMU/OIC, Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar).
August 2012 – February 2016, Commander, 908th Maintenance Group, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
February – November 2016, IMA to the Commander, 402d Electronics Maintenance Group, Robins AFB, Ga.
December 2016 – March 2018, IMA to the Vice Commander, Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex, Robins AFB, Ga.
March 2018- August 2019, MA to the Commander, Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex, Tinker AFB, Okla.
September 2019- Present, MA to the Commander, Second Air Force, Keesler AFB, Miss.
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters
Air Force Commendation Medal with three oak leaf clusters Air Force Achievement Medal with oak leaf cluster
National Defense Service Medal with bronze star Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal Global War on Terrorism Service Medal Armed Forces Service Medal
Humanitarian Service Medal with bronze star Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medal
Air Force Expeditionary Service Medal with gold border
Armed Forces Reserve Medal with hourglass and mobility devices
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant May 31, 1995
First Lieutenant May 31, 1997
Captain May 31, 1999
Major May 1, 2005
Lieutenant Colonel Aug. 22, 2010
Colonel June 4, 2015
(Current as of April 2021)