"Purdue taught me to ask, and to question, and to probe. Purdue taught me not to stop until I understood deeply how ... and why. Understanding how and why allowed me to go forward with confidence.”
Lt. Gen. David D. Thompson is Vice Commander, Air Force Space Command, Washington, D.C. He is responsible to the commander of Air Force Space Command in carrying out Air Force space missions and integrating space policy, guidance, coordination and synchronization of space-related activities, and issue resolution for Air Force Space Command and the Department of the Air Force.
Air Force Space Command organizes, trains, equips and maintains mission-ready space forces and provides missile warning, positioning, navigation and timing, and communications for North American Aerospace Defense Command, U.S. Strategic Command and the other functional and geographic combatant commands. The command comprises approximately 30,000 space professionals worldwide.
General Thompson was commissioned in 1985 as a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy. He is a career space officer with assignments in operations, acquisition, research and development, and academia. He has commanded operational space units at the squadron, group and wing levels. The general is also an Olmsted Scholar, graduate of the Senior Acquisition Course and Level III-Certified Program Manager. Prior to his assignment as Vice Commander, General Thompson was the Special Assistant to the Commander, Air Force Space Command, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo.
General Thompson has been awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, an Air Force Commendation Medal, and an Air Force Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters.
He received his master’s in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Purdue in 1989.