The Grand Paramount Carabao

Lieutenant General Henry A. "Trey" Obering retired from the U.S. Air Force as a lieutenant general with more than 35 years of experience in space and defense systems development, integration, and operations. He served as director of the 8,500-person Missile Defense Agency (MDA), Office of the Secretary of Defense. He was the DOD acquisition executive for the nation’s $10 billion per year missile defense portfolio.

In addition, Trey served as the program manager for the Ballistic Missile Defense System. Prior to the MDA, he planned and programmed 68 Joint, Air Force, and international programs with a $28 billion budget as mission area director for information dominance on the Air Staff.

Trey entered the Air Force in 1973 after completing the University of Notre Dame's ROTC program as a distinguished graduate. He received his pilot wings in 1975 and flew operational assignments in the F-4E. Later, he was assigned to the Space Shuttle program and participated in 15 space shuttle launches as a NASA orbiter project engineer and was responsible for integrating firing room launch operations. Other assignments include tours with the Air Force inspector general, the Defense Mapping Agency, and Electronic Systems Center.

Trey has twice earned the DOD’s highest non-combat award, the Defense Distinguished Service Medal for leadership. In 2008, he received the prestigious University of Notre Dame Rev. William Corby Award recognizing alumni who have led distinguished military careers. He was honored by the National Defense Industrial Association’s Missile Defense Division with the 2011 Kadish Award for Acquisition Excellence.

He received a B.S. in aerospace engineering from Notre Dame University and an M.S. in astronautical engineering from Stanford University.