Tom graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 2000 with a B.S. in Political Science, International Relations emphasis and a minor in Chinese. He also holds an MBA in Defense Acquisitions from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA.  Tom served 24 years as a career officer in the U.S. Air Force where he led development, operations and sustainment of U.S. Department of Defense space programs.  Specifically, he led international cooperative testing and deployment of the U.S. Army’s Defense Advanced GPS Receiver (DAGR), classified command and control for Counterspace programs, space-based radar technology development, and global missile warning and missile defense operations. Tom was certified in program management, satellite operations and holds his private pilot’s license from Air Force flight training.  He began consulting for the space sector in 2018 after retiring from service and co-founded Spacely, Inc. in January 2020.