Lieutenant Colonel Dawes comes to the Chicago District from the Army G-3/5/7 Army Operations Center at the Pentagon. Prior to that assignment, he served as a Command Engineer with the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC).
Lieutenant Colonel Dawes began his military career when he enlisted as a medic in 1999, serving at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and at Fort Stewart, Georgia, within the 3rd Infantry Division. He was later commissioned into the Corps of Engineers after graduating from the United States Military Academy in 2007. Throughout his 23-year career, Lieutenant Colonel Dawes has served in leadership positions from the tactical platoon level through the strategic level at the Pentagon. In his early officer career, he served as a Platoon Leader, Company Executive Officer, and Plans Officer at Fort Drum, New York. He then went on to command Alpha Company, 37th Brigade Engineer Battalion (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, leading a combat engineer company of over 100 Airborne Soldiers.
Following his company command, Lieutenant Colonel Dawes transitioned to broadening and field grade staff roles. In 2015, he assigned to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Headquarters in Washington, D.C., serving as the Executive Officer to the Deputy Commanding General for Military and International Operations, where he participated in the critical repair mission of the Mosul Dam.
Lieutenant Colonel Dawes then served at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, as a Battalion Operations Officer, Battalion Executive Officer, and Secretary of the General Staff. During his time in Alaska, he guided the transformation of United States Army Alaska into the historic 11th Airborne Division. Most recently, he returned to USASOC as the Command Engineer, where he successfully delivered five major military construction (MILCON) projects and designed four key organizational consolidation initiatives before moving to his strategic staff role at the Pentagon.
Lieutenant Colonel Dawes has deployed three times in support of combat operations: to Iraq in 2009 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and twice to Afghanistan in 2010 and 2011 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Psychology from the United States Military Academy and a Master of Business Administration from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. He is a graduate of the Engineer Officer Basic Course, the Infantry Officer Advanced Course, and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.
His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, five Meritorious Service Medals, six Army Commendation Medals, and two Army Achievement Medals. He has earned the Sapper Tab, Ranger Tab, Expert Field Medical Badge, and the Senior Parachutist Badge, and is a recipient of the Bronze Order of the de Fleury Medal.