H. D. "Jake" Polumbo

Major General H.D. "Jake" Polumbo (ret) is a founding partner and senior consultant for Two Blue Aces, LLC, a leadership firm that specializes in strategic reviews, business plan development, leadership training and mentoring.

In 2015, after 34 years of service, Jake retired from the Air Force as the commander of the Ninth Air Force in South Carolina, comprising eight active-duty wings in the southeastern United States with more than 450 aircraft and over 29,000 active-duty and civilian personnel.

He entered active duty as a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1981 and commanded at the squadron, group, and three times at the wing level. He served in strategic planning positions in Europe as the director of strategy and plans at U.S. Africa Command and in the Pentagon as the assistant deputy director for Global Operations on the Joint Staff. General Polumbo also served as a task force commander in Afghanistan in 2012.

A decorated command pilot, Jake logged over three thousand flying hours in all models of the F-16 and holds the distinction as the first and only U.S. Air Force general officer to fly the U-2S in combat, completing twenty-one missions in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

Jake is a Past Chair on the Board of the Central Florida Development Council and serves as an advisor to the President of Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland, Florida. Jake and his wife Sandra have been married for forty-two years.