Lieutenant Colonel Andrew S. Rendon received his commission as a 2LT in the United States Army from Mississippi State University’s Army ROTC Bulldog Battalion. He completed the Aviation Officer Basic Course and then reported to Germany where he was assigned as a platoon leader and eventually the Battalion logistics officer under the 4th Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division. His tour in Germany culminated in a deployment to Kosovo where he served as the Task Force Aviation logistics officer in support of KFOR operations. Upon completion of a successful overseas tour, LTC Rendon returned to the United States and completed the Aviation Captain’s Career Course and accepted an assignment at the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence located at Fort Rucker, Alabama. LTC Rendon successfully completed two back to back company command assignments while stationed at Fort Rucker. While at Fort Rucker, he also attended the UH-60 Blackhawk Maintenance Test Pilot and Instructor Pilot Course.
In 2004, LTC Rendon separated from the Active Component and returned to his hometown of Starkville, Mississippi. Joining the ranks of the Mississippi National Guard, LTC Rendon has served in various leadership positions throughout the MSNG Aviation community. Rendon has served as the Battalion Commander and Executive Officer for the 1-185th Aviation Battalion, Company Commander for the LUH 72 unit responsible for supporting several Mississippi disaster response operations including Katrina, Smithville Tornado, BP Oil Spill and the MS River Flood and Commander of A Company, 1108th TASMG. In 2011, LTC Rendon deployed with the 1108th TASMG to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and upon returning, served as the 155 Armored Brigade Combat Team Aviation Officer. LTC Rendon recently returned from an overseas tour as the U.S. Aviation Task Force Commander in Kosovo.
LTC Rendon works at Mississippi State University in the Division of Student Affairs as the Director of Planning and Assessment and was responsible for the development and implementation of the nationally recognized G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery Center for America’s Veterans.
LTC Rendon’s awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with 4 Oak Leaf Cluster, the Army Commendation Medal, the National Defense Service medal, the Kosovo Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the NATO Kosovo medal. Married to Hilary Harder Rendon of Starkville, Mississippi, Andrew and Hilary are the proud parents of USN Petty Officer Third Class Andrew Kyler Rendon and Carlisle High School Senior, Sarah Rendon. LTC Rendon currently resides in Carlisle, Pennsylvania where he is attending the resident Army War College.
Lieutenant Colonel Elvino Mendonca Jr. hails from Lowell, Massachusetts and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1987. He served as an artilleryman in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii and Okinawa, Japan before becoming a Marine Security Guard at the U.S. Embassies in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Panama City, Panama. After completing this tour, LtCol Mendonca executed his End of Active Service date and left the Marine Corps.
LtCol Mendonca then attended Clemson University where he attained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science before being commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in July of 1997.
Designated as an infantry officer, he deployed as a Platoon Commander with 3d Battalion, 8th Marines from Camp Lejeune, NC as part of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) in support of Operation NOBLE ANVIL (Kosovo) and then again to Okinawa, Japan. From 2001 through 2004 LtCol Mendonca served as the Military Training Officer to the 20th Seabee Readiness Group at Gulfport, Mississippi and then attended the Expeditionary Warfare School, at Quantico, VA.
Upon graduation, he was assigned to 2d Battalion, 5th Marines, Camp Pendleton, CA in 2005, where he deployed as a Company Commander as part of the 31st MEU in Okinawa, Japan and then in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. Upon his return, he reported to The Basic School in Quantico, VA where he would train future Marine lieutenants as a Company Commander and Maneuver Section Head in the Warfighting Department from 2008 through 2011.
LtCol Mendonca would then deploy in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM as the Executive Officer for 2d Battalion, 6th Marines, Camp Lejeune, NC and again as the Senior Watch Officer for the Combat Operations Center, II Marine Expeditionary Force. He was then assigned as the Homeland Defense Branch Head in the Security Division of Plans, Policies and Operations, Headquarters Marine Corps the Pentagon until he became the Battalion Commander of 2d Battalion, 2d Marines, Camp Lejeune, NC and again deployed to Okinawa, Japan.
Upon returning to CONUS, he turned over the Battalion and assumed duties as the Executive Officer for the II MEF Headquarters Group. After assisting in the redesignation of the unit as the II MEF Information Group he was selected to attend the Army War College at Carlisle Barracks where he is currently assigned.
Colonel Vylius M. Leskys enlisted in the Army Reserve as a Combat Engineer in 1991. He was later commissioned in the Infantry from the University of California, Los Angeles Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) in 1994. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography from California State University, Northridge, a Juris Doctor from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School, and a Master of Military Studies (Distinguished Graduate) from Marine Corps University. His military education includes the Infantry officer basic and advanced courses, Jumpmaster, Ranger and Special Forces Qualification courses, and the Marine Corps Command and Staff College.
Colonel Leskys has served in a variety of command and staff assignments in both the operational and institutional Army. After commissioning, initially he served as a Rifle Platoon Leader in the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Infantry Division (Airborne). He was further assigned to 1st Battalion, 333rd Regiment, 84th Division (Institutional Training), where he served as a Company Executive Officer and Company Commander.
Following attendance at the Infantry Captains Career Course at Fort Benning, Georgia, Colonel Leskys attended the Special Forces Qualification Course. He was then assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Carson, Colorado, where he served as Detachment Commander for a Special Forces Mobile Over-the-Snow Transport (MOST) snowmobile team, Battalion Adjutant (S-1), and Headquarters and Support Company (HSC) Commander. During this time, he deployed to (former Soviet) Georgia to evaluate its nascent Commando program and to Lebanon to conduct humanitarian demining; additionally, he served in combat during Operations IRAQI FREEDOM I, III and IV.
Upon departure from 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Colonel Leskys was assigned to Human Resources Command, Alexandria, Virginia, where he served as a Recorder at the Secretariat for Department of the Army Selection Boards. He was later assigned to the Warrior Transition Brigade at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, District of Columbia, where he served as the Brigade Operations Officer (S-3) and then Brigade Executive Officer.
He returned to Colorado and was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), where he served as the Executive Officer and then as the Bravo Company Commander where he forward deployed to Germany and Romania to train NATO Special Operations Forces for combat deployment to Afghanistan. He then served on the Joint Staff in the Pentagon as an Executive Assistant and Operations Officer at the Deputy Directorate for Special Operations and Counterterrorism. From 2014-2016, he commanded the Seattle Army Recruiting Battalion. Most recently, he served as the Division Chief for Future Operations at Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR).
His publications include articles in Military Review, Army Reserve Magazine, and the Baltic Security and Defense Review. He is a fluent Lithuanian speaker and a member in the bar associations of Wisconsin, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.
Lieutenant Colonel Steven Tofte is an Air Force officer and aviator who has accumulated a wide-range of command, control and air battle management experience over the course of his 22-year military career. Earning his aviator wings and rating in 1999, Lieutenant Colonel Tofte has accrued over 2,400 flight hours as a weapons controller and crew commander while flying aboard the E-8 Joint STARS and E-3 AWACS aircraft.
Prior to his arrival at Carlisle Barracks, Lieutenant Colonel Tofte was assigned as a NATO staff officer in Mons, Belgium where he was responsible for developing and coordinating NATO military policy and doctrine. Before that, he served three years leading and commanding an Air Force operations support squadron located at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. He has also been assigned to Hurlburt Field, Florida as an Air Force technical training school commander and served three years as a Joint Staff officer at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.
Originally from Central New York, Lieutenant Colonel Tofte joined the Air Force in 1994 as an enlisted avionics technician. After being selected for officer training in 1995, he enrolled at the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 1996 where he graduated with a Bachelor of General Studies degree and a commission as a second lieutenant in 1997. Since then, Lieutenant Colonel Tofte has earned a Master of Science degree from Southeast Oklahoma State University and studied military arts and science at the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He is currently a graduate student at the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
