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Ambassadors

Colonel Gregg Vander Ley, USAF, Retired

Gregg is the Executive Director for the 53d Wing at Eglin AFB, FL where he is the senior civilian providing strategic guidance and leadership to the USAF’s sole Operational Test and Evaluation Wing. Prior to this position, he served as the Chief of Staff at the Directorate of Strategic Operational Planning, National Counterterrorism Center, Washington, DC.

Gregg served nearly 26 years in the USAF retiring in 2015 as the United States Special Operations Command Liaison and Support Team Chief to the National Counterterrorism Center. His special operations and conventional forces background included assignments at Headquarters-US Air Force, the Joint Special Operations Command, United States Special Operations Command, United States Air Force Special Operations Command, and multiple assignments as an MC-130E/H Combat Talon aviator. Gregg graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with a bachelor’s degree in organizational communication and later earned a master’s degrees from the United States Army Command and General Staff College. He also served as a US Air Force Fellow and adjunct Professor at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Germany.

Gregg has served in multiple overseas assignments and combat tours to Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Afghanistan, as well as several other European, Southeast Asia, and Southwest Asia locations. He is the proud husband of another special operator (Janet) and father of two amazing adults, Austin (who continues to serve in the family business) and Kelsey (serving our planet as an environmental analyst).