Joe Lewis

Joe is a husband, a father, and a retired Lieutenant Colonel with 25 years of service across the three separate branches of the military. After retiring from the Air Force, Joe founded Angels of America’s Fallen (AOAF) in 2013 to help ensure  the children of America’s fallen military, police, fire, and EMS personnel have the support they need during their crucial childhood developmental years to write their own stories of success.

Joe served in the military for 25 years from Private to Lieutenant Colonel with 25 combined years as an enlisted Army cannon crewman in a field artillery unit, a Marine Corps fighter pilot flying F/A-18 Hornets, as a flight instructor, and as a transport pilot, and as an Air Force reconnaissance pilot flying the RC-26.

He supported local, state, and federal law enforcement including the FBI, DEA, and U.S. Secret Service. He served at the National Guard Bureau in Washington DC as the Counterdrug Aviation Section Chief, Chief of Domestic Operations, and Chief of Federal Operations Programs. He retired as a Lt Col from the Air Force in 2011 after completing his final tour at the United States Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations Center.

After retirement, Joe founded Angels of America’s Fallen to serve the children of our fallen military, coast guard, and first responders. Having lost friends in each service, and knowing the ages of their children, he recognized a crucial gap in the support being provided to these children who had just lost one of their biggest mentors. With the mentoring of his own sons being his biggest concern if he should not return from one of his missions, he felt the need to reach out and help provide mentoring and developmental opportunities that matched each child’s individual interests and needs.

He developed Angels of America’s Fallen as a way to proactively engage the children of our fallen in healthy activities under the guidance of a coach or instructor where they could excel and develop their very own strong sense of self worth. For his efforts engaging children of our fallen in swimming lessons, he was recognized as one of 2016’s Ten Most Influential People in the Aquatics Industry, at the Association of Aquatics Professionals Conference.

Joe earned a Masters of Public Administration, a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management, and a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Fund Development and Program Evaluation from the University of Colorado. He completed a Bachelors of Science degree in Physical Science with dual minors in Business and Criminal Justice from Troy University.

He resides in Colorado Springs with his wife of over 25 years and two sons.