Major Lawrence “Tripp” Farrell III is currently serving as the Military Deputy, Office of the Air Force Chief Software Officer. Mr. Nicolas Chaillan—the Secretary of the Air Force’s Chief Software Officer—is responsible for enabling CSO efforts with Air Force programs in the transition to Agile and DevSecOps to establish force-wide Digital Air Force capabilities and tactics, tools, and procedures, including continuous Authority to Operate (c-ATO) processes and faster, streamlined technology adoption.

The Chief Software Office works with the Program Executive Officers (PEOs) and is responsible for analyzing current software and cloud migration plans to avoid vendor lock-ins while allowing for rapid prototyping and a streamlined process for deployment. To keep up with the pace of technology, the CSO evaluates and authorizes new commercially available off-the-shelf software and cloud-related technologies to help with their adoption across various Air Force programs based on their mission needs.

Major Farrell served in the regular Air Force for nearly nine and a half years and currently serves in the Air Force Reserve as an Individual Mobilization Augmentee (IMA). His military background is diverse, and he has been an effective change agent within the nuclear enterprise and defense procurement community at numerous levels. Major Farrell has served as an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) crew commander, a program manager for a wide-ranging set of acquisition programs, and an executive support staff officer.

Reserve Activations:

• November 2020 – Present, Military Deputy, Office of the Chief Software Officer, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics), Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
• November 2019 – September 2020, Chief, Air Force Technology Protection, Directorate of Science, Technology and Engineering, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics), Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
• December 2018 – September 2019, Chief of Nuclear Operations, Nuclear Enterprise Division, EUCOM Plans and Operations Center, U.S. European Command, Stuttgart, Germany

Assignments:

• April 2017 – Present, Program Element Monitor, Global Power Programs Directorate, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics), Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
• March 2013 – August 2014, Project Officer, Family of Advanced Beyond-Line-of-Sight Terminals Production, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom AFB, Mass.
• January 2012 – March 2013, Project Manager, Beyond-Line-of-Sight Command and Control, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom AFB, Mass.
• May 2011 – December 2011, Executive Officer to the Base Commander, 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, Joint Base Balad, Iraq
• February 2010 – January 2012, Lead Program Execution Officer, Air Force Integrated Personnel and Pay System, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom AFB, Mass.
• August 2008 – February 2010, Missile Combat Crew Commander and Assistant Flight Commander, 490th Missile Squadron, 341st Missile Wing, Malmstrom AFB, Mont.
• February 2006 – August 2008, Missile Combat Crew Commander, 564th Missile Squadron, 341st Missile Wing, Malmstrom AFB, Mont.
• June 2005 – February 2006, Student, Space and Missile Fundamentals and Initial Qualification Training, 392nd Training Squadron, Vandenberg AFB, Cali.

Military Education:

• 2021 Air Command and Staff College (in progress via correspondence – proj. completion 2021)
• 2021 Leadership Today and Tomorrow (RSSB course select – February 2021)
• 2019 NATO Nuclear Policy Course, NATO School Oberammergau, Oberammergau, Germany
• 2012 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
• 2005 Air and Space Basic Course, Maxwell AFB, Ala.

Civilian Education:

• 2020 Master of Arts degree in Organizational Leadership, Gonzaga University, Spokane, Wash.
• 2019 Master of Public Administration degree, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
• 2005 Bachelor of Science degree in Sport and Recreation Management, Temple University, Philadelphia, Penn.

Major Awards and Decorations:

• Defense Meritorious Service Medal
• Meritorious Service Medal
• Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
• Air Force Achievement Medal
• Combat Readiness Medal
• National Defense Service Medal
• Iraq Campaign Medal with bronze star device
• Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
• Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medal with ‘N’ device