John F. Thompson
Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. John F. Thompson, the former commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base, was appointed by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to the Wright State University Board of Trustees.
Thompson, who is a resident of Oakwood, was appointed to the board for a nine-year term ending June 30, 2032. He replaces Doug Fecher, whose term expired June 30, 2023.
Thompson served as commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center and was responsible for more than 6,000 employees nationwide and an annual budget of $9 billion.
As the executive officer for space in the Department of the Air Force Program, Thompson managed the research, design, development, acquisition, and sustainment of satellites and the associated command and control systems.
Thompson served in a variety of scientific, acquisition and logistics-oriented capacities, including staff assignments in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Air Force Systems Command, and the Air Force Materiel Command and Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Thompson served as commander of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base from October 2014 to May 2017.
He also served as the chief of the Commodities Division at Ogden Air Logistics Center in Utah; chief of the Air Vehicle Division, C-17 System Program Office, at Wright-Patterson; director of propulsion at the Oklahoma City Air Logistic Complex; and chief of staff of the Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson.
He commanded the 327th Aircraft Sustainment Wing at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma and the 303rd Aeronautical Systems Wing at Wright-Patterson, where he served as Air Force program executive officer for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
He also served as Air Force program executive officer for strategic systems, deputy program executive officer for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program, and Air Force program executive officer for tankers and KC-46 Program director.
He entered the U.S. Air Force in 1984 after graduating from the Air Force Academy. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general in 2014.
Thompson received a Bachelor of Science from the Air Force Academy and a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio. He also studied at the Squadron Officer School, the Air Command and Staff College, and the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama; Defense Systems Management College at Fort Belvoir in Virginia; and Syracuse University.
Term ends June 30, 2032.
