Ferdinand Stoss

Ferdinand B. Stoss III is a United States Air Force major general who most recently served as the director of plans and policy of the United States Strategic Command. Previously, he was the Commander of the Twentieth Air Force.

Stoss retired from active duty in May 2022. He subsequently joined with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, as a Senior Professional Staff Member.

Career Maj. Gen. Stoss entered active-duty service in 1988 after commissioning through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Kansas State University in 1987.

Maj. Gen. Stoss largely served in the nuclear enterprise. Positions held include Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Launch Officer, Command Operations Evaluator, U.S. Strategic Command War Planner, Squadron Commander, Deputy Group Commander, Vice Wing Commander, Wing Commander, Numbered Air Force Commander, and several nuclear-related staff positions. Other staff assignments include AFROTC instructor duty and Military Assistant to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

Education ● 1987 Bachelor of Science, Political Science, Kansas State University, Manhattan

● 1993 Master of Science, Aerospace Operations, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D.

● 1993 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala., by correspondence and in residence

● 2000 College of Naval Command and Staff, with highest distinction, Newport, R.I.

● 2000 Naval Operational Planner Course, Naval War College, Newport, R.I.

● 2003 Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala., by correspondence

● 2006 Master of Science, History, University of Nebraska at Omaha

● 2007 Senior Developmental Education Fellow, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tenn.

● 2009 Joint Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Va.

● 2010 Enterprise Leadership Course, Darden School of Business, University of Virginia, Charlottesville

● 2010 Senior Executives Program, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.

● 2011 National Security Forum, The Maxwell School, Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y.