June 22, 2026
Air Force promotes Masuda to Colonel
DUANE SHERRILLEditor
A Tullahoma High School graduate from the Class of ’97 is now a full-bird Colonel in the U.S. Air Force.
The Public Affairs Agency of the U.S. Air Force revealed this week that Lt. Col Michael S. Masuda has been promoted to the rank of Colonel. He is currently serving as the Air Force Legislative Liaison to the U.S. House of Representatives.
He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 2001 and subsequently earned his pilot wings in 2002. During the next five years, he flew the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III as an instructor airdrop pilot and wing tactics officer at McCord AFB, WA. In 2007, he was reassigned to Elmendorf AFB, Alaska where he facilitated the transition of the 517th Airlift Squadron to C-17 Operations. Returning to McCord AFB in 2010, he was Chief of Standardization and Evaluations for the 4th Airlift Squadron.
During that tour, he deployed to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey as the 817th Expeditionary Force Director of Operations. In 2011, he transitioned to the Air Force Reserves and served as an evaluator pilot and tactician for the 446th Airlift Wing. For five years as a reservist, he represented the Air Force Reserve Command as a delegate to the Interallied Confederation of Reserve Officers, an affiliate to NATO.
Col. Masuda is also an Antarctica ice Instructor for the National Science Foundation’s Deep Freeze program. He flew missions over the Horn of Africa and during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. He directly supported White House worldwide diplomatic missions.
Col. Masuda graduated from Tullahoma High School in 1997. He is the son of Colonel Dale Masuda USAF Retired and Marquita Masuda. He is married to the former Alyssa Struck of Anchorage, Alaska. They have two children, Sawyer, 6, and Teagen, 4.
Col Masuda is a command pilot with over 5,000 flying hours in the T-37, T-1, and C-17, including 933 combat hours. In his civilian capacity, he is a B-737 first officer with a commercial airline.
