Rob Polumbo

Major General Rob “Mumbles” Polumbo (Ret) transitioned from the Air Force after 33 years of service in 2017. His career culminating as the special assistant to the commander, Air Force Reserve Command, Robins Air Force Base. General Polumbo assisted and advised the commander on the daily operations of the command, consisting of approximately 70,000 citizen airmen and more than 300 aircraft among three numbered air forces, providing air, space and cyber support to combatant commands world-wide.

General Polumbo was a distinguished graduate from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1984. During his 14 years of active duty, he served as an F-16 instructor pilot, flight examiner, weapons officer, operational test and evaluation pilot, operations officer and commander. He was a member of the 422 Test and Evaluation Squadron and flew as a project test pilot in numerous tactics development evaluations for the F-16. He also was the commander of 57 WG/Det 2 conducting foreign materiel exploitation. Additionally, he served as the aide-de-camp to the Air Force Chief of Staff. He transitioned to the Air Force Reserve Command in 1997 and joined the 482nd Fighter Wing at Homestead ARB. He flew F-16’s in the 93rd Fighter Squadron, served as commander of the unit and later as the 482nd Fighter Wing vice commander. His senior executive positions included mobilization assistant to numerous commands including the Air Force Warfare Center, Air Combat Command, 7th and 12th Air Force and Headquarters Air Force. His areas of expertise include joint all-domain command and control operations, tactics development & evaluation, foreign materiel exploitation, commercial aviation and leadership & character development.

Rob is a command pilot with more than 4,300 hours of military aviation time in all blocks of the F-16 and YF-112D, including combat operations in Southwest Asia. He also graduated from the AF Fighter Weapons Instructor Course in 1991. During his 23-year American Airline’s career, he logged more than 9,800 flying hours in B727, B757, B767 and B777 aircraft. He earned a master’s degree in Aviation Science from Embry-Riddle University in 1994. Currently, he is a senior consultant for Two Blue Aces consulting group, executive associate for the South Florida Defense Alliance and volunteer for The 22 Project, a non-profit organization providing support for veterans with traumatic brain injuries. Rob is co-author of Leadership from 30,000 feet published in 2019. He is married to the former Claudia Barriga of Miami, FL and has two sons. Jake is a F-16 fighter pilot in the AF and Zach is a senior at the Naval Academy and will be commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Marine Corps.