Maj. Gen H. D. “Jake” Polumbo Jr. is the founding partner and a senior consultant with Two Blue Aces Consulting. He retired from the U.S. Air Force in 2015 as the commander of the Ninth Air Force in South Carolina. Ninth Air Force comprises eight active-duty wings and three direct reporting units in the southeastern United States with more than 400 aircraft and over 29,000 active-duty and civilian personnel.
Polumbo entered active duty as a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1981. He commanded at the squadron, group and three times at the wing level including a deployment as commander of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing in the Middle East in 2009. 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. Polumbo also served as a Task Force Commander in Afghanistan in 2012.
As an accomplished command pilot, he logged over 4,000 flying hours in all blocks of the F-16 Fighting Falcon, U-2S, and the MC-12W. With over 3,000 flying hours specifically in the F-16, Jake flew combat missions in Operation Northern Watch and also holds the distinction as the first and only Air Force general officer to fly the U-2S in combat, completing 21 missions in Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom.
Polumbo serves on the Board of the Central Florida Development Council and volunteers for his church in Lakeland in various capacities. He and his wife Sandra are Florida natives and have been married for 36 years. Their son, Chad and his wife Julie serve in the Air Force. Their other son, Erik, is a successful businessman in Florida and Virginia.