Cory Roberts, formerly of Great Bend, was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on Oct. 1. Lt. Col. Roberts spent six years in the U.S. Air Force before transferring to the Reserves.
Roberts serves as the IMA to the Commander, Integrated C41SR Analysis Squadron, National Air and Space Intelligence Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. In this role, he leads 130 personnel in the Department of Defense’s premier Integrated Air Defense Systems Squadron. In addition, Lt. Col. Roberts serves as the lead for 10 Air Force Reservists.
In his civilian career, Lt. Col. Roberts is associate director for CBRE Inc., the world’s largest commercial real estate company. He manages a portfolio of 4.9 million square feet including Boeing’s World Headquarters, a high rise building in downtown Chicago.
Roberts was commissioned as a Distinguished Graduate and USAF Blue Chip Scholarship Recipient of the AFROTC program Kansas State University and transitioned to the Assistant Regional Director of Admissions, recruiting students and prior enlisted personnel into the U.S. Air Force commissioning programs. Upon graduation from the Officer Intelligence course, he served as the 13th Air Force Chief of Current Intelligence and then the Chief of Intelligence Plans, Programs, and Policy, enhancing intel programs and theater engagement where he was awarded the 13th Air Force Intelligence Officer of the Year. He deployed in support of Unified Assistance after the devastating tsunami in Southeast Asia.
Lt. Col. Roberts became the Chief of Weapons of Mass Destruction/Theater Ballistic Missiles and Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection for the 609th Air Intelligence Squadron in 2005 at Shaw AFB, SC and later Deputy Flight Commander of Intelligence Analysis in 2006 and deployed as the Deputy Chief of Analysis, Correlation and Fusion at Combined Air Operations Center, Qatar. He transitioned to the AF Reserves in June of 2007 and has served as an analyst, Branch Chief, Deputy Division Chief and Division Chief of Counterterrorism and Counterintelligence for the Joint Intelligence Operations Center Europe Analysis Center at Ft. Sheridan and served as the Air Force Element Lead for seven Reservists. In 2014, he was awarded EUCOM JAC’s Mathis Award for the Intelligence Officer of the Year.
His decorations include Defense Meritorious Service Medal; Joint Service Commendation Medal; Air Force Commendation Medal with 2 oak leaf clusters; Joint Service Achievement Medal; and Air Force Achievement Medal.
Effective dates of promotion: Second Lieutenant May 30, 2001; First Lieutenant May 30, 2003; Captain May 30, 2005; Major May 30, 2012; Lieutenant Colonel October 1, 2018.
Lieutenant Colonel Roberts, a 1996 graduate of Great Bend High School, resides in Chicago with his wife, the former Angela Kistner, and three children, Canyon, Sophie and Ava. He is the son of Max and Kathy Roberts and Stephen and Dee Volpert, all of Great Bend.
