Colonel Marcus Cunningham

Chief, Air Mobility Division & Director of Mobility Forces 613th Air Operations Pacific Air Forces US Air Force

Colonel Marcus A. Cunningham is currently the Chief of the 613th Air Operations Center's Air Mobility Division at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. In this position, he controls operations for Pacific Air Forces’ $6.6 billion air mobility fleet executing 3000 airlift and tanker missions per year. Colonel Cunningham graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 2001 with Academic and Military Distinction as the Outstanding Cadet in English Language. He continued his studies as a Public Service Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University before attending Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training at Laughlin AFB, Texas. He was subsequently assigned to the 14th Airlift Squadron in Charleston, S.C., as a C-17A Globemaster III pilot and the 437th Operations Group Executive Officer. He then became a C-17A Formal Training Unit Instructor Pilot in the 58th Airlift Squadron, Altus AFB, Okla., where he trained USAF and partner nation students in the C-17A initial aircraft qualification, Aircraft Commander upgrade, and Instructor Pilot upgrade programs. He graduated the US Marine Corps Command and Staff College with Academic Distinction and as the Streusand- Cooper Writing Award winner. Subsequently, he served on the Air Staff as an Air Force Duty Officer in the National Military Command Center and stood up the Current Operations Division before becoming its first CENTCOM Branch Chief. Colonel Cunningham was the Commander, 621st Air Mobility Operations Squadron, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, where he organized, trained, and equipped a 55-member squadron to provide augmentation forces to Air Mobility Divisions within geographic combatant command Air Operations Centers during contingencies, operations, and exercises. In that role, he also deployed as a Deputy Division Chief in the Air Mobility Division to direct the planning and execution of intra-theater airlift, air refueling, and aeromedical evacuation operations and advise the Combined or Joint Forces Air Component Commander and Director of Mobility Forces on air mobility matters. Following his graduation from the Air War College, Montgomery AFB, AL, with Highest Academic Distinction, he served as the Deputy Director of the Airlift Allocation Directorate in the 618th Air Operations Center at Scott AFB, IL before returning to JBMDL as the Deputy Commandant of the Expeditionary Operations School and the Director of Operations, Logistics, Plans, and Doctrine for the United States Air Force Expeditionary Center. Colonel Cunningham is a veteran of Operations ENDURING and IRAQI FREEDOM, with multiple deployments in Southwest Asia supporting flying operations, where he accumulated 900 combat hours in the C-17A. He also deployed to Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan, as the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing’s Chief of Plans and Inspector General. He was born and raised in Wyoming.