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Carl Schaefer

Carl Schaefer is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for the Small Business Consulting Corporation.  He retired as an Air Force Lieutenant General, after 33 years of active duty, previously serving as the Deputy Commander, Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC), Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio in his final Air Force assignment. The command employs some 89,000 people and manages $60 billion of budget authority annually.  As Deputy Commander, Carl was responsible for the evolution of aerospace systems from conceptual phase through production and introduction into the operating inventory. His duties included directing policy and procedures affecting AFMC aircraft logistics, product acquisition and sustainment, technology research and development, as well as system test and evaluation to meet known and anticipated operational requirements. He also managed worldwide logistics support to U.S. Air Force operating commands, as well as foreign, Security Assistance Program air forces.  Additionally, he supported Air Force installation and mission support functions for 10 major commands, two direct reporting units and 77 installations around the world.

Carl has served in a variety of flying and staff assignments to include command at the squadron, group and two wing commands, including the 412th Test Wing Commander, Edwards AFB, CA.  He served two Pentagon assignments, working as an F-15/F-22 Program Element Monitor for the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition and for the Air Force Chief of Staff as the Director, F-35 Integration Office.

Carl was commissioned in 1990 as a distinguished graduate from the U.S. Air Force Academy.  He holds an M.S. in Systems Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology and an M.A. in Strategic Studies from Air War College.  Carl has attended numerous professional and continuing education courses including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Artificial Intelligence Course, Leadership Course at University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business and many others.  He is a U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School graduate and a command pilot with more than 3,100 flying hours in more than 40 aircraft types. Carl has flown combat missions in support of operations Deny Flight and Allied Force.   

Carl and his wife Pauline are from Colorado Springs, Colorado and have three adult children.