Dover Area HS Grad Promotes to USAF Colonel

Photo By Chief Petty Officer Dennis Herring | A 1988 graduate of Dover Area High School who is serving at U.S. Cyber Command, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, was selected earlier this month for promotion to the rank of Colonel (O-6) in the U.S. Air Force.  

DOVER, PA, UNITED STATES

03.03.2017

Story by Chief Petty Officer Dennis Herring 

U.S. Cyber Command

A 1988 graduate of Dover Area High School who is serving at U.S. Cyber Command, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, was selected earlier this month for promotion to the rank of Colonel (O-6) in the U.S. Air Force.

Lt. Col. Sean C. Kern, a native of Dover, Pennsylvania, with 26 years total years of Service in the U.S. Air Force, currently serves as the executive assistant to U.S. Cyber Command’s Deputy Commander and previously served as the command’s Assistant Deputy Division Chief for Future Plans.

Kern’s parents still reside in Dover.

In his current assignment, Kern is an advisor to U.S. Cyber Command’s three-star deputy commander, Air Force Lt. Gen. J Kevin McLaughlin, assisting him in preparation for day-to-day operations at the four-star command headed by the commander, Adm. Michael S. Rogers, U.S. Navy.

As an Air Force Cyber Defense Officer, Kern is in general responsible for leading and directing joint planning groups to develop cyberspace operations future plans in support of national leaders and joint force commanders.

A Certified Information Systems Security Professional, Kern has served in numerous cyber-community jobs since he commissioned in the service in 1996. Prior to that, he graduated from Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science.

His first tour in the service was at Falcon Air Force Base in Colorado followed by tours at bases along the east coast. He also served as far away as Germany and Afghanistan and has deployed in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

Kern has also earned master’s degrees in Computer Systems from the Air Force Institute of Technology; Strategic Intelligence from the National Intelligence University; and Joint Campaign Planning and Strategy from the Joint Advanced Warfighting School at the Joint Forces Staff College.

At the Joint Advanced Warfighting School, he earned distinguished graduate honors and received the Commandant’s Award for Excellence in Writing.

His personal awards earned include the Bronze Star Medal and Defense Meritorious Service Medal.

U.S. Cyber Command’s mission in cyberspace is to provide mission assurance for the operation and defense of the Department of Defense information environment; deter or defeat strategic threats to U.S. interests and infrastructure, when directed; and support the achievement of joint force commander objectives. The command was established in 2009.

• Date Taken: 03.03.2017
• Date Posted: 03.03.2017 13:35
• Story ID: 225607
• Location: DOVER, PA, US