Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Barhart is currently commander of the 318th Training Squadron at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas.
Barhart was previously the Director of Operations for the 12th Training Squadron at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas. In this position he oversaw ops for over 1,600 Pilot Instructor Training (PIT), Undergraduate Remotely Piloted Aircraft Training (URT), and Basic Sensor Operator Course (BSOC) students per year enrolled in 12 unique training programs at 5 geographically-separated locations. He also led 53 civilian simulator in 18 simulator devises worth $44 million and 4 simulator maintenance contracts worth $36 million. Finally, he supervises execution of the group’s International Military Student Office (IMSO), bookstore, registrars, and simulator quality assurance inspections.
Additionally, Lieutenant Colonel Barnhart is a European Command Foreign Area Officer (FAO), a Eurasian Security Studies graduate of the Naval Postgraduate School, and a qualified Russian Linguist and graduate with High Honors from the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC). As part of his regional certification, he gained substantial regional experience in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Prior to his current assignment, Lieutenant Colonel Barnhart served as a FAO at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and supported the Treaty on Open Skies as a Flight Representative, planning and leading multiple missions over the Russian Federation and Ukraine and escorting Russian inspection teams on their
reciprocal inspections in the skies over the United States. Following his time in the Open Skies Division, Lieutenant Colonel Barnhart was hand-picked to serve as the first Military Assistant to a newly-created joint General Officer billet in the Operational Analysis Department.
Lieutenant Colonel Barnhart was commissioned in 2007 as a Distinguished Graduate from the United States Air Force Academy. After receiving his wings from ENJJPT he went on to KC-135 Pilot Initial Qualification training, where he was again a Distinguished Graduate. Following initial qualification, Lieutenant Colonel Barnhart flew the KC-135R/T/RT Stratotanker, where he deployed extensively in support of Operations IRAQI FREEDOM, ENDURING FREEDOM, and NEW DAWN before being selected to return to Air Education and Training Command as and T-6A Instructor Pilot in the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program (ENJJPT).
He is a senior pilot with more than 3,000 flight hours, including approximately 1,350 combat hours.