Lt. Col. Sam B. Harriger is the Commander of the 361st Recruiting Squadron, 372nd Recruiting Group, headquartered at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. He leads 82 personnel responsible for recruiting future Airmen and Guardians to serve in more than 140 Air Force and Space Force specialties. His area of responsibility includes 40 geographically separated offices throughout Alaska, Oregon, and Washington covering 728,000 square miles.
Lt. Col. Harriger entered the Air Force in May 2011 after commissioning from the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He completed civil engineer officer training in December 2011, and since has held a variety of positions and multiple deployments as both a civil engineer and explosive ordnance disposal officer. A few of his notable assignments include serving as a counter-IED Advisor in support of training Malian military and police forces as part of the United Nations Mine Action Service in Bamako, Mali. He also served as the EOD Section Chief of the Defense Nuclear Weapons School at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, where he led EOD technicians in educating and training technical first responders in nuclear and radiological WMD response. Lt. Col. Harriger also served as the EOD Flight Commander at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, where he oversaw support to the nuclear enterprise and directed explosive‑hazard mitigation across a 15‑county area of responsibility. He later served as a staff officer for infrastructure enablement within NATO’s Joint Support and Enabling Command in Ulm, Germany.
Prior to his current position, Lt. Col. Harriger served as Director of Operations at the 60th Civil Engineer Squadron, Travis AFB, California.
EDUCATION
2011 Bachelor of Science, Environmental Engineering, United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.
2015 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2018 Master of Science, Engineering Management, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
2021 Air Command and Staff College (via correspondence)
ASSIGNMENTS
1. July 2011 - July 2014, Civil Engineer, 9th Civil Engineer Squadron, Beale AFB, Calif. (July 2013 - December 2013, Officer in Charge
of Special Capabilities, 577th Expeditionary Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force Squadron, Al Udeid AB, Qatar)
2. July 2014 - April 2015, Student, Naval School Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Eglin AFB, Fla.
3. April 2015 – September 2016, EOD Flight Commander, 377th Mission Support Group, Kirtland AFB, N.M.
4. September 2016 – August 2018, EOD Section Chief, Defense Nuclear Weapons School, Defense Threat Reduction Agency,
Kirtland AFB, N.M.
5. August 2018 – March 2020, Graduate Student, Department of Systems Engineering and Management, Air Force Institute of
Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
6. March 2020 – April 2021, C-IED Advisor, United Nations Mine Action Service, Bamako, Mali 7. July 2021 – September 2023, Staff Officer, Infrastructure and Enablement, Military Engineering Division, Joint Support and
Enabling Command, Ulm, Ger.
8. September 2023 – Present, Director of Operations, 60th Civil Engineer Squadron, Travis AFB, Calif. (September 2024 - April
2025, Operations Flight Commander, 379th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, Al Udeid AB, Qatar)
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Defense Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
Meritorious Service Medal
Joint Service Commendation Medal
Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
Army Commendation Medal
Joint Service Achievement Medal
(Current as of June 2026)