Dean of Students

T he Dean of Students is a senior military officer who acts as a liaison among staff, schools, and military units in all student matters. As Dean of Students, this officer develops and manages policies and egulations governing student academic assessments and makes rulings on student relief and rebuttal actions. This officer also manages the Military Language Instructor program.

Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth E. Canterbury

Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth E. Canterbury, Dean of Students Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth E. Canterbury is the Assistant Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education and Dean of Students at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) at the Presidio of Monterey, CA.

Lt Col Canterbury was born in Charleston, WV in 1967. He graduated as an honor student at Herbert Hoover High School, Clendenin, WV in 1985. He then graduated from West Virginia University (WVU) with two Bachelor's Degrees, one in Foreign Languages, the other in Mathematics, in 1989. Concurrently, he was also a distinguished graduate of the 912th AF ROTC Student Squadron at WVU and was commissioned Second Lieutenant on May 14, 1989.

Following commissioning, Lt Canterbury attended Intelligence Training at the 3486th Student Squadron at Goodfellow AFB, TX and was a distinguished graduate from both the Fundamentals of Intelligence and Intelligence Applications Courses. Following training at Goodfellow, Lt Canterbury was assigned as Deputy Chief of Plans and Exercises at HQ United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), Ramstein AB, Germany. There, he also attended both the Air Ground Operations and the Contingency-Wartime Planning Schools. Also while at HQ USAFE, Lt Canterbury completed a Masters of Science Degree in International Relations from Troy State University.

In 1992, Lt Canterbury transferred to the 86th Fighter Wing, Ramstein AB, as Chief of Targets Intelligence Flight. In 1993, he was assigned to the 512th Fighter Squadron (which operated F-16s), 86th FW and became the Chief of Intelligence Flight. There, he was promoted to Captain and deployed for combat operations in both Operation PROVIDE COMFORT for operations over Northern Iraq and Operation DENY FLIGHT for operations in the Balkans.

Capt Canterbury was then selected to attend the Foreign Area Specialty Program, Middle East, at Monterey, CA in 1994. There, he received a Masters of Arts in National Security Affairs, Middle East, from the Naval Postgraduate School and language training in Persian Farsi at DLIFLC. He also received the secondary, 16F, AF Specialty Code (Foreign Area Officer, Middle East), for his training at Monterey. Following his training at Monterey, CA, Capt Canterbury was assigned to the Iran Team at HQ US Central Command (USCENTCOM), MacDill AFB, FL in 1996. There, he served as both an Iranian Air and Air Defense Analyst and the Iranian Political/Military Analyst for the J2, Joint Intelligence Center, USCENTCOM.

In 1998, Capt Canterbury was transferred to the Pentagon, VA, where he was appointed as a Middle East Crises Intelligence Officer. From 1998 to 2001, Capt Canterbury moved from being an Iranian Pol/Mil Analyst to becoming the leader of the Iran Team and Middle East Air Expert for the Middle East Section, J2/Joint Staff, Pentagon; during which he was also promoted to Major.

After serving at the Pentagon, Maj Canterbury was assigned to the Air Force Command and Control, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center (AFC2ISRC) at Langley AFB, VA in October 2001. There, he served as Chief of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Platforms and Sensors, responsible for sensor/platform integration into the AF Distributed Common Ground (Intelligence) System. While at the AFC2ISRC, Maj Canterbury volunteered to deploy to Prince Sultan AB, Saudi Arabia, in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM in the beginning of 2002.

In 2003, Maj Canterbury was selected to attend Air Command and Staff College - in residence - at Maxwell AFB, AL. Upon graduation in Jun 2004, he was personally selected by the Commander USCENTAF/9th Air Force to be his Political Advisor (POLAD) at Shaw Air Force Base, SC where he was also promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on 1 Jan 2005.

During the summer of 2006, Lt Col Canterbury was selected to return to DLIFLC as the Assistant Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education and Dean of Students where he continues these duties today.

Lieutenant Colonel Canterbury has had multiple deployments to the USCENTCOM-CENTAF AOR; including Operation PROVIDE COMFORT in Turkey, SOUTHERN WATCH in Saudi Arabia and Operation ENDURING FREEDOM/IRAQI FREEDOM in Qatar for operations in and around both Iraq and Afghanistan. Further, as a Middle East Foreign Area Officer and POLAD to the Commander at USCENTAF, Lt Col Canterbury has extensive travel and familiarity with the USCENTCOM-CENTAF AOR whereas he has met personally with US Ambassadors, Embassy Staffs, and United States Military Liaison Offices. His military decorations include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Southwest Asia Service Medal, and the Global War on Terrorism Medal.