Major Cody Stites is an Associate Professor of Aerospace Studies at the University of Mississippi. He is the Operations Flight Commander for the Air Force ROTC program.
Biography
Maj Cody Stites completed his undergraduate degree at Tusculum University in 2011 and went on to commission from Officer Training School in June 2013. After OTS, he was assigned to Naval Air Station Pensacola where he earned distinguished graduate honors at Undergraduate Combat Systems Officer Training in October 2014. He then moved to Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, where he completed RC-135 initial navigator training and was later assigned to the 45th Reconnaissance Squadron. While in the 45th, Maj Stites served in various roles as a lieutenant and junior captain including Standardization and Evaluations Liaison Officer, Chief Navigator, and Assistant Flight Commander. Further, he completed ten contingency operations deployments on the RC-135S Cobra Ball and RC-135U Combat Sent.
After the 45th, he moved across base in January 2019 to teach at the 338th Combat Training Squadron -the largest Formal Training Unit in Air Combat Command. In addition to instructing navigator students in the 338th, he was a Flight Commander, Operations Supervisor, and led a team of fifteen aircraft egress instructors. After his time as a schoolhouse instructor, Maj Stites was selectively hired to the 1st Airborne Command Control Squadron where he completed qualification training as a mission navigator on the E-4B Nightwatch, a militarized Boeing 747 aircraft. During his time on the E-4B, Maj Stites executed the unit's National Airborne Operations Center (NAOC) mission, remaining on continuous 24/7/365 alert as directed by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and also executed multiple missions transporting the Secretary of Defense and his staff to political conferences and summits overseas. Further, he led a team of 15 enlisted personnel in the unit's Formal Training Flight responsible for all communication operator, flight engineer, and flight attendant initial qualification training on the E-4B.
In addition to his student time in the T-6 and T-1, Maj Stites is an experienced instructor and evaluator navigator on the RC-135 and E-4B with more than 2300 total flight hours. Prior to his current position, Maj Stites was the Director of Formal Training and an E-4B Instructor Navigator at the 1st Airborne Command Control Squadron, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.
Courses Taught
- AS 101 Heritage and Values I
- AS 102 Heritage and Values II
- AS 201 Team and Leadership Fundamentals I
- AS 202 Team and Leadership Fundamentals II
- AS 301 Leading People and Effective Communication I
- AS 302 Leading People and Effective Communication II
- AS 401 National Security/Leadership/Commissioning I
- AS 402 National Security/Leadership/Commissioning II
Education
B.A. Exercise and Sports Science, Tusculum University (2011)
M.B.A. Management, Indiana University-Bloomington (2020)