Col. Donavan S. Laskey is the Deputy Commander of the 374th Airlift Wing, Yokota Air Base, Japan. He assists the Wing Commander in the management, training, command and control of the Department of Defense’s only airlift wing in the Pacific theater. As the Western Pacific Airlift hub, Yokota Air Base provides mission-ready forces and base operating support to guarantee U.S. forward presence and crisis response.

A native of Paradise, California, Col. Laskey enlisted in 1998 and was commissioned in 2004 from Officer Training School. He has served in a variety of leadership positions at Squadron, Group and Wing levels. He is a graduate of Undergraduate Pilot Training, C-130 Initial Qualification Training, and C-130 Instructor Pilot Training. He has served multiple combat deployments in Operation JOINT FORGE, Operation SOUTHERN WATCH, Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, Operation NEW DAWN, and Operation INHERENT RESOLVE. He is a senior pilot, having logged over 3,700 hours in various C-130E, H and J models with over 1,000 combat hours. He is a graduate of Air Mobility Command’s prestigious PHOENIX MOBILITY leadership development program, the Air Force Legislative Fellowship, and the Joint Warrior Studies Seminar at Air War College.

EDUCATION
2001 Associates of Applied Science, Communications Application Technology, Community College of the Air Force, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
2002 Bachelor of Science in Liberal Arts, Excelsior College, Albany N.Y.
2010 Distinguished Graduate, Squadron Officer School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
2012 Masters of Arts in Emergency & Disaster Management, American Military University, Charles Town, W. Va.
2015 Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala. by correspondence
2016 Graduate Air Force Legislative Fellowship, Washington D.C
2022 Masters of Strategic Studies, Joint Warfighting Concentration, Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.

ASSIGNMENTS
1. May 1998 – March 2000 Student Defense Language Institute, Presidio of Monterey, Monterey, Calif.
2. April 2000 – August 2004 Airborne Cryptologic Linguist (Hebrew), 488th Intelligence Squadron, Royal Air
Force Base Mildenhall, United Kingdom
3. August 2004 – October 2005, Officer Trainee, Officer Training School. Student, Undergraduate Pilot Training, Vance AFB, Okla.
4. November 2005 – September 2006, Student, Primary Naval Undergraduate Pilot Training, Corpus Christi Naval Air Station, Texas
5. October 2006 – October 2010, Student, C-130E Initial and Mission Qualification Training Pilot C- 130E/H and Standards and Evaluations Liaison Officer, Squadron Executive Officer, then Aircraft Commander C-130E/H and Chief of Safety, 61st Airlift Squadron and 53rd Airlift Squadron, Little Rock AFB, Ark.
6. October 2010 – June 2011, Aircraft Commander and Central Scheduling Officer, 37th Airlift Squadron Ramstein Air Base, Germany
7. June 2011 – August 2013 Instructor Pilot C-130J and Chief of Wing Current Operations 86th Operations Support Squadron, Ramstein Air Base, Germany
8. May 2012 – May 2013 (TDY) Chief Out of Country Training then Executive Officer/Aide De Camp to the Deputy Chief Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq, Baghdad, Iraq
9. August 2013 – July 2015, Phoenix Mobility Officer, Operations Flight Commander then Assistant Director of Operations and Contingency Response Element Commander, 571st Ground Mobility Squadron, Travis AFB, Calif.
10. July 2015 – January 2017 Air Force Legislative Fellow, Office of Congressman Jim Cooper, Washington D.C.
11. January 2017 – August 2018 Chief, Force Structure and Strategic Basing Branch, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force Legislative Liaison, Pentagon Washington D.C.
12. August 2018 – June 2019, Director of Operations, 374th Operations Support Squadron, Yokota AB, Japan
13. June 2019 – July 2021, Commander, 374th Operations Support Squadron, Yokota AB, Japan
14. July 2021 – May 2022, Student Joint Warrior Studies Seminar, Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
15. June 2022 – June 2024, Deputy Executive Assistant to the Commander NATO Allied Joint Forces Command and Commander U.S. Naval Forces Europe – Africa, Naples, Italy
16. June 2024 – June 2025, Executive Officer to the Commander NATO Allied Joint Forces Command and Commander U.S. Naval Forces Europe – Africa, and Commander of the U.S. Air Force Element.
17. June 2025 – Present, Deputy Commander, 374th Airlift Wing, Yokota AB, Japan

SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS
1. June 2024 – June 2025, Executive Officer to the Commander NATO Allied Joint Forces Command and Commander U.S. Naval Forces Europe – Africa, and Commander of the U.S. Air Force Element.

FLIGHT INFORMATION
Rating: Command Pilot
Flight hours: More than 3,700 hours including over 1,000 combat hours
Aircraft flown: RC-135 (as enlisted aircrew), T-37, T-44A, C-130E/H, C-130J

MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Defense Superior Service Medal
Bronze Star Medal
Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters
Aerial Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Joint Service Commendation Medal
Air Force Commendation Medal with two leaf clusters
Joint Service Achievement Medal
Navy Achievement Medal
Department of State Meritorious Honor Award
86th Airlift Wing Company Grade Officer of the Year 2011
Airlift Tanker Association Young Leader Award
Airlift Tanker Association General Robert “Dutch” Huyser Award Pilot Category

EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTIONS
Second Lieutenant November 4, 2004
First Lieutenant November 1, 2006
Captain November 1, 2008
Major April 1, 2015
Lieutenant Colonel October 1, 2018
Colonel June 1, 2024

(Current as of Jul 2025)