Craig McPike

Background

Chair, Board of Strategy & Oversight

Craig McPike, Brigadier General, U.S. Air Force Retired, chairs the Board of Strategy and Oversight for Hemisphere Aerospace Defense, guiding defense strategy, program oversight, and senior engagement with government, allied, and industry partners. He brings more than three decades of Air Force leadership, with assignments in five major commands spanning unit, group, wing, MAJCOM, and Air Staff levels, including command of organizations exceeding 12,000 personnel.

As Deputy Commander of the Air Force Recruiting Service, he helped lead 3,700 Total Force Airmen and civilians across approximately 1,275 recruiting offices in the U.S. and abroad, an enterprise responsible for all enlisted accessions, bringing more than 45,000 individuals annually into the Air Force, Air Force Reserve, Air National Guard, and Space Force, and managing all strategic marketing for the U.S. Air Force.

He also served as Reserve Director for U.S. Southern Command, where he oversaw joint and combined full-spectrum military operations and supported efforts to enhance regional security and cooperation across Central and South America and the Caribbean Basin. A graduate of Texas A&M University commissioned through ROTC, he is a command pilot with more than 3,700 flying hours in tactical, combat, educational, and test flight operations, and has flown combat and combat-support missions in operations Southern Watch, Allied Force, and Freedom's Sentinel.

At Hemisphere Aerospace Defense, he applies that operational and command experience to advancing autonomous maritime and unmanned defense systems.