Lt. Gen. (Ret) John F. āJTā Thompson is a former Commander of both the U.S. Space Forceās Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) and U.S. Air Forceās Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC). During his 36 years of uniformed service, he held a variety of critical acquisition, scientific and logistics-oriented positions; he was a four-time DoD Program Executive Officer (PEO) in the Departmentās Acquisition Corps, running numerous multibillion-dollar major defense acquisition programs in ISR & SOF, strategic/nuclear systems, fighter, tanker and space portfolios. He also served as the Deputy PEO for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. Throughout his career, he was responsible for tens-of-thousands of employees nationwide, and dozens of installations. Most recently, as the Department of the Air Force PEO for Space, JT managed the research, development, acquisition and sustainment of satellites, launch vehicles, and associated C2 systems. JT currently sits on several corporate boards, including Stellant Systems, directing and advising public, private and employee-owned aviation, space and defense-related companies and communities.