NEWPORT, RI, 21 July 2017 Colonel Kirk Davies, United States Air Force, assumed the directorship of the Defense Institute of International Legal Studies (DIILS), in a Change of Director Ceremony officiated by Mr. Robert Helfant, Principal Director for the Building Partnership Capacity Directorate at the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. Colonel Davies is the 12th Director of DIILS.
Colonel Davies holds a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Utah College of Law, and an undergraduate degree in piano accompaniment from the University of Utah. He comes to DIILS from The Judge Advocate General's School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, where he was Commandant. Prior to that, he has served in six Air Force base legal offices, at a Numbered Air Force, at a Major Command, at the Air Force Personnel Center, as an Area Defense Counsel, and as an instructor at the Air Force Judge Advocate General's School. He also served as a strategic communication planner for the Secretary of the Air Force and as an executive officer for the Air Force Assistant Vice Chief of Staff. He has been the editor of The Reporter, The Military Commander and the Law, and the Air Force Law Review. He has deployed to Saudi Arabia and Kosovo.
Colonel Davies attended The Judge Advocate General's School of the Army where he received a Masters of Law degree in military law, with an emphasis in international and operations law. He attended the Eisenhower School at Ft. McNair, DC, where he received a Master’s Degree in National Resource Strategy and was recognized as a distinguished graduate.