Det 770 Cadre

Col. Keith W. Balts

Commander, Air Force, ROTC Detachment
Education Officer
Professor of Aerospace Studies

Col. Balts is responsible to the Clemson University president and the AFROTC Commandant for recruiting, training and educating Air Force officer candidates. He is the senior Air Force officer on campus with dual responsibilities as Detachment Commander and Chairman of the Department of Aerospace Studies with the rank of full professor. He instructs a senior level course titled "National Security Affairs and Preparation for Active Duty."

Col. Balts earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and was a distinguished graduate of the University of Wisconsin in 1992. He also received a Master of Engineering in Space Operations from the University of Colorado in 1996, graduated with distinction with a Master of the Military Operational Art and Science from Air Command and Staff College in 2005, and graduated with distinction with a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College.

He has served in various operational and staff positions involving satellite command and control, space control, missile warning, national reconnaissance, launch and theater space operations. Colonel Balts has served at the squadron, wing, numbered Air Force, major command and national agency levels. He commanded a space warning squadron and a space wing, including the Air Force's third largest installation and the largest isolated base in the continental U.S. He also served in the Combined Air Operations Centers for Operation Southern Watch and Operation Enduring Freedom. Colonel Balts is a command space operator with qualifications in four satellite systems, two ground-based radars, and launch operations. Prior to assuming his current position, Colonel Balts was the Inspector General, Headquarters Air Force Space Command. In that capacity, he reported to Commander, Air Force Space Command on matters concerning the effectiveness, efficiency, readiness and discipline of assigned space and cyber forces at over 100 worldwide locations.