Paul Plunkett, a member of the Class of 1973, enters his fourth year in the Athletics Department and his fifth year at The Citadel.

While at The Citadel, he received eight total varsity letters in baseball, football and basketball. He was recruited to play baseball for The Citadel by Coach Chal Port, who he credits for teaching him many things about college athletics.
 
Having served his first year with the Bulldogs as the Special Assistant to the President and being a graduate, he joined the Athletics team with a good knowledge of the college’s operations and policies.  While at The Citadel, he played every baseball game for four years as the starting catcher, capturing All-Southern Conference honors. Three of his years that he called the pitches are on record as being in the top five years of the lowest team earned runs averages in The Citadel Baseball history. 

He graduated with a degree in business administration, was a Distinguished Graduate of the Air Force ROTC Program, and was awarded a commission in the Air Force. 

Prior to coming to The Citadel in 2006, he served 23 years in the Air Force where he spent most of his career overseeing base and command sports and recreation programs. He also had terms as Base Commander of Camp John Hay in the Philippines, as well as tours on the United States Central Command and Special Operations Command Staffs. He also served in Saudi Arabia during the first Dessert Storm conflict. Other assignments include:  Pope AFB, N.C., HQ Tactical Air Command at Langley AFB, Va., Homestead AFB, Fla., and Incirlik CDI in the country of Turkey.

Additionally, he has over nine years in financial management experience, including six years a general manager at two country clubs in south Georgia.

Plunkett holds a master’s degree in business administration from Golden Gate University.  He is a graduate of the Air University Squadron Officer School and the Air Force Command and Staff College.

His awards include the Department of Defense Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, Air Force and Department of Defense Commendations Awards, the Air Force Humanitarian Service Medal, and the Philippine Department of Defense Bronze Star. Additionally, he was named the Tactical Air Command’s “Best Morale, Welfare, Recreation and Services Officer” in 1993.

Paul is married to Debbie Dean, a Georgetown native.  They have three children, Chris, Beth, and Katie.