Rodney Lewis

General Rodney Lewis is a former national security leader serving as deputy director for Force Protection, J8, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Pentagon. Responsible for global force protection aligning worldwide personnel, and resources with Department of Defense strategic guidance. Prior to this role, General Lewis served as director for strategy, posture, and assessments for the United States Air Force, aligning global strategy supporting 697,000 members. He also led an elite Joint Staff team supporting worldwide monitoring, crisis action, strategic nuclear and current operational watch functions reporting directly to the highest levels of government.

General Lewis has extensive experience building organizational strategy, funding large capital expenditures, managing unions, leading public-private partnerships in highly regulated sectors, and marketing to a cross section of demographics. He is the founder and CEO of The Generals Group, LLC, an intellectual ecosystem working closely with some of the finest minds in government, within the demands of today’s tech challenges including cybersecurity, data-analytics, AI and more. The Generals Group enables transformative decision making, recommendation and connection capabilities for government agencies, commercial, non-profit organizations, and academic institutions facilitating government and commercial partnerships.

General Lewis is a decorated Air Force command pilot with over 3,600 flight hours and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his service in a combat zone. A distinguished graduate of the Air Force Academy, he earned two master’s degrees with honors from the University of Southern California, and the Air Force Institute of Technology. In 2023, he earned his Ph.D. in education, health and behavior studies from the University of North Dakota. Originally from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, he now resides in Alexandria, Virginia with his family.