LIEUTENANT GENERAL JOHN T. "TOM" SHERIDAN

Lt. Gen. John T. "Tom" Sheridan is the Commander, Space and Missile Systems Center, Air Force Space Command, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif.  He is responsible for more than 5,000 employees nationwide and an annual budget of $10 billion. As the Air Force Program Executive Officer for Space, General Sheridan manages the research, design, development, acquisition, and sustainment of satellite, launch and command and control systems. His extensive portfolio includes military satellite communication, missile warning, navigation and timing, space-based weather, space launch and range, space superiority, responsive space, and other emerging evolutionary space programs.

General Sheridan graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1973 with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering and completed Air Force ROTC as a distinguished graduate. He subsequently entered active duty in August 1975 following an educational delay to earn a Master of Business Administration degree from Bryant University in Rhode Island. He also holds a Master of Science degree in resource strategy from the National Defense University.

General Sheridan's experience includes acquisition leadership of space, aircraft and simulator programs; requirements development across all Air Force space programs; and operational leadership in four different national space programs. He has served as military assistant to the Director of the National Reconnaissance Office and Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space; Commandant of Air Command and Staff College; Director of Requirements at Headquarters Air Force Space Command; Program Executive Officer and Director for Space Radar and as the Deputy Director of the National Reconnaissance Office. 

EDUCATION
1973 Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering, University of Connecticut
1975 Master of Business Administration degree, Bryant University, Smithfield, R.I.
1978 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
1983 Air Command and Staff College, by correspondence
1988 Armed Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Va.
1992 Defense Systems Management College, Fort Belvoir, Va.
1994 Air War College, by correspondence
1996 Master of Science degree in resource strategy, and Senior Acquisition Course, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.
2003 Senior Executive Program in National and International Security, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
2005 U.S. Navy Executive Business Course, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif.

ASSIGNMENTS
1. August 1975 - August 1979, simulator and training systems engineer, Airborne Warning and Control System Program Office, Hanscom AFB, Mass.
2. September 1979 - September 1982, air vehicle and propulsion engineer, NATO Airborne Early Warning Program, Brunssum, Netherlands
3. October 1982 - July 1987, Chief of Satellite Operations, later, Chief, Ground Systems Division, Operating Division 4, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Sunnyvale Air Force Station, Calif.
4. August 1987 - January 1988, student, Armed Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Va.
5. February 1988 - June 1991, Director of Operations, Space Systems Division, Detachment 1, Arlington, Va.
6. July 1991 - January 1992, Program Manager, Advanced Systems Program Office, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles, Calif.
7. January 1992 - June 1992, student, Defense Systems Management College, Fort Belvoir, Va.
8. July 1992 - June 1994, Deputy Chief, Space Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence Division, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.
9. July 1994 - June 1995, military assistant to the Director of the National Reconnaissance Office and Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space, Washington, D.C.
10. July 1995 - July 1996, student, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.
11. August 1996 - April 2000, Group Commander, Directorate of Projects, Operating Division 2, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, England
12. May 2000 - June 2002, Commandant, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
13. June 2002 - May 2005, Director of Requirements, Headquarters Air Force Space Command, Peterson AFB, Colo.
14. June 2005 - July 2006, Program Executive Officer and System Program Director for Space Radar, Chantilly, Va.
15. July 2006 - May 2008, Deputy Director, National Reconnaissance Office, and Program Executive Officer and System Program Director for Space Radar, Chantilly, Va.
16. May 2008 - present, Commander, Space and Missile Systems Center, and Program Executive Officer for Space, Los Angeles AFB, Calif.

SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS
August 1996 - April 2000, Group Commander, Directorate of Projects, Operating Division 2, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, England, as a colonel

BADGES
Master Space Badge
Master Acquisition Badge

MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Distinguished Service Medal
Defense Superior Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster
Defense Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters
National Defense Service Medal with one service star
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal

EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant May 13, 1973
First Lieutenant June 6, 1976
Captain June 6, 1978
Major Oct. 1, 1985
Lieutenant Colonel Nov. 1, 1990
Colonel Aug. 1, 1996
Brigadier General Jan. 1, 2002
Major General Oct. 1, 2005
Lieutenant General  May 16, 2008

(Current as of June 2011)