NextGen Advisory Council

NextGen Advisory Council

The NextGen Advisory Council (NGAC) is a representative group of graduates from 1995-present serving across active duty, reserve, guard, and civilian sectors. Established to strengthen connection across generations of the Long Blue Line, the Council provides strategic insight to the U.S. Air Force Academy Association & Foundation on how best to engage and support emerging and mid-career graduates.

Grounded in data and aligned with the Joint Strategic Plan, the NGAC advances meaningful connection, professional development and mentorship, and support for graduates in transition — reinforcing our shared commitment to the Academy’s enduring mission.

In partnership with staff, chapters, affinity groups, and board leadership, the Council helps ensure engagement efforts remain relevant, mission-aligned, and forward-looking, strengthening today’s graduate community while building tomorrow’s leadership pipeline.

NextGen Presents Webinars and Networking

Webinar Name	Host	Panel	Date		Webinar Recording
NextGen Presents: Space	Charlie Crouse ’13	Jason Kim ’99, Oscar Chacon ’18, Nestor Levin ’22	Feb. 19, 2026		View recording
NextGen Presents: Cyber	Mike Wagner ’97	Tony Sibert ’89, David Merritt ’02, Partha Naidu ’16	March 19, 2026		View recording
NextGen Presents: Careers in Wealth Management	Aaron Stark ’03	Coming soon	April 16, 2026		Register now

Council Members

Christian Evans '08 Chair

Mike Wagner '97 Vice Chair

Joseph Bledsoe '11

Loyd Bradley, Jr. '14

Gordon Broadbent '13

Sarah Broadbent '13

Charlie Crouse '13

Evan Dadosky '08

Nate Dial '10

Tanner Doss '09

Ryan Dukes '13

Vishaal Hariprasad '06

David Harris '17

Ebony Sunala Johnson '00

Garrett Kauppila '19

J. Mintzmyer '12

Hassan Bin Rizwan '02

Nicholas Sawruk '01

Aaron Stark '03

Todd Strawser '98

Jared Tomaszewski '12

Jennifer Walters '11

Joshua Weed '01

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Major Joseph “Paveway” Bledsoe III ’11 is a dynamic leader, airpower strategist, and F-15E fighter pilot with a track record of success in high-stakes environments. With extensive experience in operations, project management, and strategic planning, he excels in navigating complex challenges and driving innovative solutions.

Born in Quarryville, Pennsylvania, Joseph graduated from Solanco High School in 2007 before attending the United States Air Force Academy, where he served as Class President and graduated as a Distinguished Graduate in 2011. He later earned a Master’s in Public Policy with a focus on international security and economic policy.

Currently a Fellow at the Institute for Future Conflict at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Joseph researches emerging technologies, the future of airpower, and global security trends. His work explores how organizations adapt to rapidly evolving threats, with a focus on Agile Combat Employment (ACE) and drone applications. His ability to bridge technical expertise with strategic vision makes him a sought-after voice on defense innovation and policy development.

As an F-15E “Strike Eagle” fighter pilot with over 1,500 flight hours, including 344 combat hours, Joseph has led air operations in high-intensity conflict zones. During a combat deployment in support of Operation INHERENT RESOLVE, he flew 70 combat missions, striking key ISIS targets and supporting ground forces in dynamic environments. Joseph was recently selected as a Rising Leader Fellow with the Aspen Security Group, where he collaborates with top emerging national security professionals on policy challenges shaping the future. His expertise extends to government and public policy, having served as a Congressional Intern and earning a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, underscoring his ability to lead cross-functional teams and manage complex programs.

Beyond his research and flying, Joseph just concluded a four-year term as a Director on the Air Force Academy Association of Graduates Board, where he played a pivotal role in shaping initiatives that enhance alumni engagement and institutional support. He was instrumental in launching the "Membership for All" campaign, benefiting over 50,000 graduates and their families. Above all, Joseph is a dedicated husband and father. He and his wife, Alicia, embrace the adventure of military life while raising their three young children. Whether leading strategic initiatives or spending time with his family exploring the outdoors, Joseph is committed to service, innovation, and building strong communities.

Loyd A. Bradley, Jr., currently serves as an Associate in the Industrials Group at Goldman Sachs, where he advises public and private companies on mergers and acquisitions, strategic financings, and long-term value creation. His work includes leading transaction execution, performing advanced financial analysis, and supporting senior management teams as they evaluate strategic alternatives.

Before entering the private sector, Mr. Bradley served as a Finance Officer in the United States Air Force. His assignments included roles at the Pentagon and within major Air Force commands, where he provided cost analysis and financial oversight for high-priority defense programs. He supported the integration of more than $160 billion in Major Defense Acquisition Programs, managed operational budgets exceeding $400 million, and earned multiple awards for leadership and organizational impact.

Mr. Bradley also brings entrepreneurial and operating experience. As Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of DIV Capital Partners, he has acquired and managed a portfolio of health and wellness businesses, raising and deploying capital, executing renovations, and overseeing day-to-day operations. He led the acquisition of multiple franchised locations and managed the transition from founder-led oversight to professionalized, manager-driven operations.

He holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he served as Chief Financial Officer of the Wharton Graduate Association, managing the financial operations of more than 160 student organizations. He also holds an M.S. in Cost Analysis from the Air Force Institute of Technology and a B.S. in Management from the United States Air Force Academy, where he was a Division I football player and held various leadership roles within his squadron and the cadet wing.

Mr. Bradley has been recognized with the Wharton Core Value Award for Integrity and the U.S. Air Force Academy Young Alumni Excellence Award. He has served on nonprofit boards, finance committees, and congressional Service Academy Selection Boards, reinforcing his commitment to public service and ethical leadership. In his free time, Mr. Bradley enjoys spending time with his wife and son, reading, mentoring youth, and supporting leadership development initiatives within the veteran and student communities. He remains actively engaged in service organizations and local civic programs, reflecting his long-standing commitment to developing future leaders. Mr. Bradley currently resides in New York City.

Gordon Broadbent is a combat-proven organizational and technical leader with expertise in driving high-impact technology strategies across government and private sectors. He is currently serving as the first U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and U.S. Air Force participant in a unique three-year executive development program at Microsoft. This innovative program is designed to develop strategic leaders with in-depth knowledge of the advanced technology sector, equipping them with the skills to implement commercial digital solutions within the defense environment.

Currently, He leads the Microsoft Discovery and Quantum (MDQ) Division’s Exploratory Technical Team reporting to the MDQ executive vice president, driving cross-division strategic initiatives for AI, Science, and Quantum and the lead architect behind inventing the most advanced AI systems that unify agentic AI, model training, and learnable orchestration frameworks.

While at Microsoft, Gordon has held roles as a Senior Product Manager, Senior Technical Program Manager, and Senior Finance Manager. In these positions, he led global teams in developing cutting-edge AI solutions, including being an inventor on technology at the nexus of collaboration between humans, robots, and AI agents.

Prior to Microsoft, Gordon served as an Acquisitions Officer in the U.S. Air Force, where he led a 75-member team in executing a $700 million cloud-first modernization effort. His leadership in this initiative established the blueprint for cloud adoption across the Air Force and helped earn him the "DoD Software Manager of the Year" award in 2023. Earlier in his career, he served as an Intelligence Officer, leading special operations teams in multiple theaters, and was recognized with several combat air medals.

Gordon is pursuing a PhD at the University of Denver, focusing on adopting and implementing emerging technologies, such as AI and quantum computing, by large organizations. His educational background includes an MBA from Oklahoma State University and a Bachelor of Science in Systems Engineering & Management from the U.S. Air Force Academy. He also proudly volunteers as the President of the Air & Space Forces Association – Greater Seattle Chapter.

Through a blend of strategic, operational, and tactical experiences, Gordon continues to bridge the gap between technology and defense, advancing innovation and fostering partnerships to enhance national security.

Sarah “FIGHT” Broadbent is a collaborative senior cyber intelligence analyst and combat-proven leader, recognized for driving integrated analysis to supply actionable strategies to decision makers and warfighters combating threats in air and cyberspace.

Sarah spent 11 years as an active duty U.S. Air Force intelligence officer, with career highlights including: serving as the Intelligence Director (J2) for one of the Cyber National Mission Force's Joint Task Forces – orchestrating analytic support for cross-agency cyber and information warfare campaigns; deploying as an Intelligence Engagements Officer – where she used her skills as a multilingual analyst to advise the Royal Jordanian Air Force on how to enhance their ISR capabilities; supporting combat operations targeting the Islamic State; and many other incredible opportunities that took her all over the globe.

Now Sarah brings a distinctive citizen-Airman perspective to the table as a small business innovator and Air National Guardsman. After becoming a mom, she transitioned to the Oregon Air National Guard in 2024, where she serves as an Intelligence Instructor and is the Lead Cyber Integrator for one of the National Guard Bureau’s elite training exercises, leveraging her multi-domain operations expertise. She also founded a service-disabled veteran- and woman-owned small business focused on aligning technical solutions and expertise with mission-critical Department of Defense objectives. Through these efforts, Sarah continues to champion innovation in education and training by integrating emerging methodologies to address evolving threats. Her work helps prepare defense companies and government agencies to counter nation-state threats.

From analyzing Russian fighter intercepts in Syrian airspace early in her career to countering malicious cyber actors across the globe, Sarah's passion for leadership and problem-solving drives her ability to deliver meaningful analysis for multifaceted operations and inspire teams to succeed in ambiguous environments. She is known for her ability to streamline processes, distill complex topics, and drive buy-in to accomplish tasks effectively and efficiently.

Sarah is a U.S. Air Force Academy Class of 2013 graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Area Studies, minors in Arabic and Spanish, and a Master of Arts in Human Relations from the University of Oklahoma. She proudly volunteers as the Treasurer and Secretary of the Air & Space Forces Association – Greater Seattle Chapter, a YMCA volleyball coach, and a tutor for students with dyslexia.

Lt Col Nathan E. Dial hails from Richmond, Virginia, and is a Pilot assigned to the 45th Reconnaissance Squadron as an Assistant Director of Operations, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. For his undergraduate education, Nathan was a distinguished graduate of the US Air Force Academy, 200/400-meter sprinter on the intercollegiate track team, soaring instructor pilot, Naval Academy exchange cadet, and the Fall 2009 Cadet Wing Commander.

After USAFA, he earned a master’s in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), focusing on political-economic development, multi-party negotiations, and quantitative methods. In between his first and second year at HKS, Nathan entered the Air Force’s Language Enabled Airmen Program (LEAP) for Spanish. He used his fluency in Spanish to serve in SOUTHCOM’s J5 Plans and Strategy Office (Miami, FL), where he developed a tool for assessing partner nations’ humanitarian assistance and disaster relief capabilities.

After HKS, he completed the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program (ENJJPT). Upon graduation, Nathan flew the EC-130H Compass Call out of Davis Monthan AFB, AZ. Over his four and a half years in Arizona, Nathan completed the Air Force’s Aviation Safety School, Mishaps Investigations Course, and Squadron Officer School as a distinguished graduate. As a reconnaissance pilot, Nathan completed three deployments to the Middle East with the EC-130H, amassing over 775 combat hours and five air medals. In 2022, with the RC-135, he completed one deployment with the Cobra Ball and one with the Combat Sent, amassing 88 hours and an Aerial Achievement Medal.

In the summer of 2018, Nathan was one of five captains selected for the Chief of Staff of the Air Force’s Captains Prestigious Ph.D. program. In July 2021, he graduated from Northwestern University with a Ph.D. in political science, studying the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the 21st Century. In 2022, Nathan was named an Aspen Strategy Group Rising Leader and earned a 10-month fellowship with the world-renowned nonpartisan Aspen Institute. Nathan published four peer-reviewed academic articles on topics ranging from why NATO should view energy security as an important new frontier for transatlantic defense to how the United States can produce 1,500 more Black national security professionals.

Throughout his career, Nathan has shown an ongoing commitment to an inclusive and empathetic culture in the Air Force and surrounding communities. Since 2014, he has served on the Academy Selection Committees for various Arizona Senators. In 2020, Nathan published a three-part series on race and the military in the Air Force Times. In 2021, Nathan became the co-founder and board chair for USAFA Class of 2010 Endowment, which raised $330,000 and provides a minimum of $5,000 each semester for the top cadet squadron’s morale fund in perpetuity. In January 2023, Nathan joined the Air Force’s Aviation Inspiration Mentorship (AIM) program, where he is a part of a cadre that will inform, influence, and inspire the next generation of Air Force aviators.

Hassan Bin Rizwan ’02 is a technology entrepreneur, decorated Air Force veteran, advisor and investor whose two decades of leadership span military innovation, large-scale digital learning programs, and AI-integrated media production. From modernizing radar systems for frontline squadrons to launching Pakistan’s first nationwide educational TV channel, his initiatives have collectively reached millions of learners and professionals across South Asia and the Gulf—building bridges between cutting-edge technology and meaningful social impact.

Raised in Karachi and a top graduate of Adamjee Government Science College, Hassan earned a coveted international scholarship to the U.S. Air Force Academy, where he was a Tau Beta Pi engineering honor inductee, served as Deputy Group Commander, and received the Department of Electrical Engineering’s Outstanding Cadet Award. Commissioned on return, Hassan began his career with Pakistan Air Force leading component-level radar and electronic-warfare repair, maintenance and upgrade programs for the PAF, where his lean-six-sigma initiatives cut turnaround times by 35 percent and improved system availability by 15 percent.

In 2015, Hassan founded SABAQ, now Pakistan’s leading K-5 EdTech companies. He led the production of 3,000+ curriculum-aligned videos, games, and e-books, rolled out a blended-learning platform to 2,500 low-cost schools, and partnered with UNICEF, UNHCR, the World Bank, USAID, UKAID, and the Malala Fund to tailor teacher-centric digital solutions nationwide. During COVID-19, his team supported the government’s initiative to launch the TeleSchool TV channel and the SELD learning app, ensuring continuous education for millions of students.

To scale global content services he founded Moonshot Animations in 2020, integrating Maya/Unreal pipelines and delivering 600+ preschool episodes to North-American and GCC clients while incubating the original kids’ series Tinkoo & Tinki (100,000+ subscribers in year one). Hassan also chairs the Animation & Creative Economy Committee at P@SHA and mentors young creators through a studio-run accelerator that has trained 100+ artists.

Now based in Dallas, Hassan is expanding his business verticals and advising a suite of new ventures where he is an active investor.