Major General Church Kee, USAF (Ret.) is the Senior Advisor, Arctic Security for the U.S. Department of Defense as of 23 August 2021 and a Commissioner for the U.S. Arctic Research Commission. He was the former Executive Director of the Arctic Domain Awareness Center (ADAC) at the University of Alaska, a DHS Science and Technology (S&T) Office of University Programs Center of Excellence in Maritime Research, a position he held since 4 January 2016. General Kee was appointed as a Commissioner to the U.S. Arctic Research Commission by the President of the United States on 10 November 2020. As the former ADAC Executive Director, “Church” led a distributed team of Arctic-focused S&T, education & student field programs, and convening activities of knowledgeable Arctic researchers, policymakers, Alaska Native Leaders, and maritime operators.

During his 30-year military career, General Kee led at the Squadron, Group, Wing, and Air Ops Center levels. General Kee’s staff assignments include the U.S. Transportation Command, Headquarters USAF, and the U.S. Joint Staff in both Operations plus Strategic Plans and Policy Directorates. He has contributed to U.S. Arctic Strategy, supported domain awareness technology development, and Defense Support to Arctic crisis response. He culminated his military service as Director of Strategy, Policy, Planning, and Capabilities for U.S. European Command (ECJ5/8) in Stuttgart, Germany.

Church is a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center Polar Institute, a Network Member of the Canadian hosted North American and Arctic Defense and Security Network at Trent University, Peterborough Ontario, and the U.S. designated lead for a technology working group for the U.S. Navy Office of Naval Research International Cooperative Engagement Program for Polar Research. Church also leads ADAC and associated university efforts in conducting Arctic Senior Leader Summits and Symposiums for Alaska Command, a Sub-Unified Command of U.S. Northern Command headquartered at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Alaska. Finally, he is also the co-chair of the State of Alaska Civilian Armed Services Team (ACAST) an advisory board to the Governor of Alaska on defense and security matters.