Mineral Wells Names Alumni as Guest Speaker for Veterans Day Program
Major Joe Biles will be the program’s guest speaker which begins at 11am at the MWHS stadium.
By Mary Creighton
Joe Biles grew up in Mineral Wells, graduating from Mineral Wells High School in 2002 before attending Texas Tech University. He is a defense contractor, an Air Force Reserve officer, an adjunct instructor at Abilene Christian University, and a ministry student preparing for ordination in the Episcopal Church.
In his military role, Major Joe Biles is deputy chief of the Strategy Guidance Team (SGT) within the Strategy Division, 608th Air Operations Center (AOC), Barksdale AFB, Louisiana. He leads a diverse team of officers responsible for synchronizing air component objectives with United States Strategic Command campaign plans. During 24-hour operations, Major Biles acts as the night shift Strategy Guidance Team Chief. The 608th Air Operations Center’s mission is to provide operational-level planning and command and control of conventional strike and nuclear-capable bombers as part of the Joint – Global Strike Operations Center (J-GSOC), the warfighting air component to U.S. Strategic Command.
Major Biles entered the Air Force in 2006 after commissioning through the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Texas Tech. He served more than 11 years on active duty before transitioning to the Air Force Reserve. Major Biles has served in a variety of operational and support positions including tactics officer, deployed mission planning cell chief, formal training instructor, assistant flight commander, group executive officer, flight examiner, three-time flight commander, and assistant operations officer.
He is a master navigator with more than 2,700 flight hours, including 41 combat sorties over Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria in the B-52H Stratofortress and E-3B/C Sentry in support of Operations ENDURING FREEDOM, FREEDOM’S SENTINEL, and INHERENT RESOLVE. Major Biles is a 2016 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Weapons School, the graduate-level instructor course that provides the world’s most advanced training in weapons and tactics employment. During the course, students receive an average of 400 hours of graduate-level academics and participate in demanding combat training missions.
Prior to his current assignment, Major Biles flew as an instructor weapon systems officer on the B-1B Lancer, responsible for onboard defensive countermeasures and the targeting and delivery of up to 48,000 pounds of bombs, missiles, or mines.
Joe graduated from St. Mary’s University of San Antonio in 2012 with a Master’s degree in International Relations, and teaches Introduction to International Relations to undergraduates at Abilene Christian University as an adjunct instructor of political science.
He resides in Abilene with his wife Amanda, an assistant professor of History at ACU. In Abilene, Joe serves on the Board of Governors for the Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra and enjoys volunteering at downtown Abilene’s Historic Paramount Theatre. He is also a proud member of the Abilene Southwest Rotary Club and credits a college scholarship from the Mineral Wells Rotary Club with helping him get where he is today.
Joe is a member of the Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, which is sponsoring his studies at the Iona School for Ministry at Camp Allen, Texas, where he is preparing for ordination as a priest.
