Lt. Gen. David “DT” Thompson, the new Pentagon-based vice commander of Air Force Space Command, made his first public appearance May 15 at a Washington Space Business Roundtable luncheon. Credit: SpaceNews

The new Pentagon-based vice commander of Air Force Space Command, Lt. Gen. David “DT” Thompson, made his first public appearance May 15, 2018, at a Washington Space Business Roundtable luncheon in Washington, D.C.

The Air Force last fall decided that Space Command chief Gen. John Raymond should have a deputy based in Washington so he can spend less time traveling back and forth to D.C. and more time running operations in Colorado Springs.

DT Thompson was formerly deputy commander of Space Command and most recently Raymond’s special assistant. The Senate confirmed his appointment in March.

Just a few weeks into the job, Thompson said the learning curve has been smooth. “I have been preparing for this for about a year,” he said. “What I didn’t expect was how important it was to have a senior uniformed official in the Pentagon working with the air staff who deeply understood space.”

This video was made possible through support from SES Government Solutions.

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Sandra Erwin writes about military space programs, policy, technology and the industry that supports this sector. She has covered the military, the Pentagon, Congress and the defense industry for nearly two decades as editor of NDIA’s National Defense...