WASHINGTON — President Trump on Aug. 7 nominated Lt. Gen. David D. Thompson for promotion to four-star general. If confirmed by the Senate, Thompson will become vice chief of space operations of the U.S. Space Force.
Since the establishment of the Space Force, Thompson has served as vice commander.
Thompson will be the second four-star general in the U.S. Space Force under Gen. John “Jay” Raymond, chief of space operations. The other U.S. military services also have a four-star chief and a four-star deputy.
Raymond told SpaceNews that Thompson’s nomination is an important step toward standing up the office of the chief of space operations.
Raymond said he welcomed the news last week that four two-star Space Force major generals who were nominated for promotion to lieutenant generals have been confirmed by the Senate. After Thompson gets through confirmation, he said, “We’ll have the whole leadership team in place.”
The office of the chief of space operations at the Pentagon is projected to have about 200 people.
Serving under Raymond and Thompson will be Lt. Gen. Nina Armagno as staff director; Lt. Gen. William Liquori as deputy chief of space operations for strategy, plans, programs, requirements and analysis; and Lt. Gen. B. Chance Saltzman as deputy chief of space operations, cyber and nuclear.
The other promotion was Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting who was named commander of the Space Operations Command, one of three field commands in the Space Force based at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado.
