Rick Steiner resides in Wyoming where he is a full-time rancher, owning and operating Sweetgrass Ranch north of Gillette. The ranch practices regenerative agriculture and stock raising, as well as offering some of the finest facilities available for corporate retreats, sporting clays and upland bird shooting, and is premier habitat for North American big game.
Rick also has diverse business interests and is a Principal of KRN Management Company and KRN Properties, managing a business portfolio including commercial real estate and other investments.
From 2018 to 2021, Rick was on the Board of Directors of Air Comm Corporation (ACC), a closely held business that supplies environmental control systems to the general aviation industry. From 2012 to 2018, Rick was the Executive Vice President of ACC, which has facilities in in Westminster and Boulder, Air Comm Corporation is a market leader in thermo management applications and products. The company has content on over 50 different types of aircraft.
Prior to working at Air Comm Corporation, Rick served as the Vice President of Strategy at PAE International, a $500 million dollar per year government services company. PAE holds numerous service contracts with the U.S. government, and performs work in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. PAE provides aviation services, operates U.S. facilities and bases, operates logistics distribution networks, and provides military and police training. Prior to working for PAE, Rick worked for
Lockheed Martin’s Readiness and Stability Operations business unit as a Strategic Planning Director. Rick enabled Lockheed Martin to win and perform business in Afghanistan, Iraq, Djibouti, and West Africa.
From 1985 to 2008, Rick served in the U.S. Army, first as an Infantry lieutenant, and then as a Special Forces officer.
As a lieutenant, Rick was a rifle platoon leader, mortar platoon leader, rifle company executive officer, and assistant brigade operations officer, all in the U.S. Army Berlin Brigade from 1986 to 1989.
After completing Special Forces Assessment and Selection and the Special Forces Officer Qualification Course in 1990, Rick was assigned to 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Rick Served as a Detachment Commander and Company Commander from 1991 to 1995, leading his company on Operation Restore Democracy in Haiti. Rick returned to 3rd SFG(A) in 1998 to command a Special Forces Company and serve as a Battalion Operations Officer, leading his company on the African Crisis Response Initiative mission to train the Benin Army in West Africa in 1998.
From 2001 to 2004, Rick served as the Current Operations Director at U.S. Special Operations Command – Europe, conducting operations in Kosovo, Cote d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, and running Exercise FLINTLOCK in South Africa in 2003.
From 2004 through 2007, Rick served as the Deputy Commanding Officer of 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), and concurrently as the Deputy Commanding Officer of Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force – Arabian Peninsula (CJSOTF-AP) in Iraq.
CJSOTF-AP controlled two Special Forces battalions, a Naval Special Warfare Task Group, and a Special Operations Aviation Task Group, and had over 3,000 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, allied SOF, and Iraqi Soldiers and Special Operators assigned to it. CJSOTF-AP conducted Special Operations throughout Iraq; from Baghdad and Sadr City north to Mosul and Kirkuk and west to Fallujah, Ramadi, and the Syrian Border. During Rick’s tenure in Iraq, the insurgency was at its height, and CJSOTF-AP conducted thousands of raids and other special operations during that time period. Green Berets, Navy SEALS, and their Iraqi allies assigned to CJSOTF-AP killed or captured tens of thousands of insurgents and former members of the Iraqi Army and Republican Guard during this period of the Iraq War.
Rick’s awards and decorations include two awards of the Bronze Star Medal, and multiple awards of the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, and the Army Commendation Medal. Rick earned the Combat Infantry Badge, Special Forces Tab, Ranger Tab, Master Parachutist Badge, the Military Freefall Parachutist Badge, and the Pathfinder Badge.
Rick earned a Bachelor of Science from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and a Master of International Relations from the University of Oklahoma, as well as a Certificate in Strategic Management from Harvard Business School.
