Colonel Drew R. Conover
Director of Training & Exercises (G7), SETAF-AF
Col. Drew R. Conover graduated from the Virginia Military Institute and commissioned as an Infantry Officer in 2001.
Following completion of Infantry Officer Basic Course and Ranger School at Fort Benning, GA, COL Conover was assigned to 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division where he served as a Rifle Platoon Leader and Company Executive Officer throughout a combat deployment to Iraq from 2003-2004. COL Conover later served as the Battalion S4 before returning to Fort Benning for attendance at the Infantry Captains Career Course (ICCC).
Upon completion of ICCC, Col. Conover was assigned to 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division where he served as the Battalion Assistant S3 and Company Commander throughout combat deployments to Iraq in 2006 and 2008.
Col. Conover then attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas where he completed Intermediate Level Education (ILE) and the School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS).
Col. Conover was then assigned to 4th Brigade (Light), 4th Infantry Division where he served as the Brigade Planner and later, the Operations and Executive Officer for 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment throughout deployments to Afghanistan in 2012 and 2014. His final assignment in the 4th Infantry Division was as the Executive Officer to the Commanding General.
Col. Conover then served as the lead Counterterrorism planner for United States European Command (USEUCOM) from 2015-2017. Drew assumed commanded of the 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division in 2018 and subsequently deployed his battalion to eastern Europe in 2019. Drew then served as the Operations Officer (G3) for the 4th Infantry Division and Fort Carson following battalion command.
He most recently served as a National Security Affairs Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
Col. Conover’s awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal (4OLC), Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (1OLC), Ranger Tab, Combat Infantryman’s Badge, Parachutist Badge, Air Assault Badge. He holds a BA in Business and Economics from the Virginia Military Institute and a Masters of Military Arts from the School of Advanced Military Studies.