Col Downer is the Associate Director of Logistics, Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Engineering and Force Protection, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, the Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia. She directs the strategic alignment, training, and equipping of more than 180,000 logistics personnel, ensuring optimized sustainment and readiness for over 300,000 Total Force members globally. She shapes comprehensive policy spanning materiel management, munitions, and deployment to align with National Defense Strategy priorities across the Future Years Defense Program (FYDP). Additionally, she oversees weapon system sustainment metrics and coordinates critical war plan annexes to drive the operational readiness of the Air Force's largest combat support force.
Colonel Downer enlisted as a cryptologic linguist in June 1995. She then gained her commission from the United States Air Force Academy in May 2002. Colonel Downer held various staff and logistics readiness officer positions within Aerial Port and Logistics Readiness Squadrons across the globe while on Active Duty and in the Reserves, culminating in squadron command at Joint Base Andrews in 2018. After command, she broadened with two diverse joint assignments to advance joint effects; and deliver strategic readiness assessments while overseeing Global Force Management activities to recover and sustain the readiness of the Total Force, including security assistance and materiel transfers.
Currently, she resides in Virginia with her husband, Lieutenant Colonel Jeremy Downer and their two children, Rowan and Gavin.
EDUCATION
1996 Defense Language Institute, Presidio of Monterey, Calif.
1996 Cryptologic Language Analyst Training, Goodfellow AFB, Texas
2002 Bachelor of Science, Foreign Area Studies, United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.
2002 Aerospace Basic Course, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2003 Logistics Readiness Officer Course, Lackland AFB, Texas
2004 Air Mobility Command's Global Command and Control System Combined Course
2006 Air Mobility Command's High Flight
2008 Squadron Officer School, by correspondence
2012 Master of Business Administration, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Mass.
2013 Intermediate Logistics Readiness Officer Course
2014 Air Command and Staff College, by correspondence
2020 Air War College, by correspondence
2021 Acquisition Professional Lifecycle Logistics Level III Certification
2025 Joint and Combined Warfighting School-Hybrid
ASSIGNMENTS
1. August 1995 - February 1996, Student, Defense Language Institute, Presidio of Monterey, Calif.
2. February 1996 - June 1996, Student, Cryptological Linguist Specialist, Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas
3. June 1996 - June 1998, Cryptological Linguist, Medina Annex, Lackland AFB, Texas
4. June 1998 - May 2002, Cadet, United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.
5. May 2002 - January 2005, Fuels Flight Commander, Contingency Operations OIC, 305th Logistics Readiness Squadron, McGuire AFB, N.J.
6. January 2005 - August 2005, Executive Officer, 305th Mission Support Group, McGuire AFB, N.J.
7. August 2005 - May 2007, Readiness Flight Commander, Air Freight Officer-In-Charge, 730th Air Mobility Squadron, Yokota Air Base, Japan.
8. June 2007 - May 2013, Contingency Operations Flight Commander, Operations Officer, 439th Logistics Readiness Squadron; Wing Executive Officer, Wing Process Manager, 439th Airlift Wing, Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass.
9. May 2013 - September 2015, Theater Sustainment Planning Officer, Joint Base Andrews, Md.
10. October 2015 - April 2018, Commander, 459th Logistics Readiness Squadron, JB Andrews, Md.
11. April 2018 - July 2020, Special Technical Operations Planner, Joint Staff, Stuttgart, Germany.
12. July 2020 - June 2022, Individual Mobilization Augmentee to the Material Management Branch, Headquarters Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
13. June 2022 - June 2023, Individual Mobilization Augmentee to the Logistics Readiness Division, Air Force Reserve Command, Robins AFB, Georgia
14. June 2023 – May 2026, Director, Strategy, Operations, Assessments, and Resources, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of War, Strategic Readiness, Office of the Undersecretary of War, Personnel and Readiness, Pentagon, Washington D.C.
15. May 2026 – Present, Associate Director and Mobilization Assistant, Director of Logistics, Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Engineering & Force Protection, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS
1. June 1996 - June 1998, Cryptological Linguist, Medina Annex, Lackland AFB, Texas, as a senior airman
2. April 2018 - July 2020, Special Technical Operations Planner, Joint Staff, Stuttgart, Germany, as a lieutenant colonel
3. June 2023 – May 2026, Director, Strategy, Operations, Assessments, and Resources, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of War, Strategic Readiness, Pentagon, Washington D.C., as a colonel
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters
Joint Service Commendation Medal
Air and Space Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster
Joint Service Achievement Medal
Air and Space Outstanding Unit Award with six oak leaf clusters
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Senior Airman June 21, 1998
Second Lieutenant May 29, 2002
First Lieutenant May 29, 2004
Captain May 29, 2006
Major May 29, 2011
Lieutenant Colonel September 15, 2017
Colonel June 1, 2022
(Current as of May 2026)