John Edwin Shaw[2] was born on March 17, 1968.[3] Raised in Norton, Massachusetts, he is a distinguished graduate from the United States Air Force Academy in 1990 with a B.S. degree in astronautical engineering and a minor in Russian language.[4] He later earned an M.S. degree in aeronautics and astronautics from the University of Washington in 1991 with a thesis entitled Optimal Control Designs for an Inverted Cart-Pendulum Array.[2] He went on to receive two M.A. degrees in 1998 and 2004: one in organizational management from George Washington University and one in military operational arts and sciences from Air Command and Staff College, respectively. He also completed a M.S. degree in national security strategy in 2008 from the National War College. He was also a senior executive fellow of the Harvard Kennedy School in 2010.[5]
Military career
Gen John W. Raymond, presents the 14th Air Force guidon to Shaw, during a change of commander ceremony, 2019.
After graduating from the United States Air Force Academy, Shaw was commissioned into the United States Air Force on May 30, 1990. For a year, he studied at the University of Washington.[5]
Shaw was assigned to locations outside the United States from 1998 to 2001. He was first assigned to Ramstein Air Base, Germany for a year as the chief of special information warfare plans for the 32nd Air Operations Group. He was then deployed for two months to Naples, Italy where he was chief of special technical operations for Joint Task Force Noble Anvil during the Kosovo War. After that, he was assigned as the executive officer for director of aerospace operations of the United States Air Forces in Europe.[5]
Shaw was then promoted to colonel in 2008 and assigned as director of the United States Strategic Command commander's action group, serving under General Kevin P. Chilton. On July 1, 2010, he took command of the 50th Operations Group. After two years, he was assigned to the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Space Policy) as a senior policy advisor.[5]
Shaw speaks during the Space Warfighters Luncheon at the 36th Annual Space Symposium, 2021.
After his assignment in Washington, Shaw took command of the 21st Space Wing on July 26, 2013. On June 5, 2015, before relinquishing command to Douglas Schiess, he was promoted to brigadier general.[6][7] From June 2015 to June 2017, he was assigned to the U.S. Strategic Command as the deputy director for global operations. After that, he was reassigned to the Air Force Space Command first as the director of strategic plans, programs, requirements, and analysis from 2017 to 2018 and then as deputy commander of the major command from 2018 to 2019 after he was promoted to major general.[5]
On September 30, 2020, Shaw was nominated for transfer to the Space Force,[12] promotion to lieutenant general,[13] and assignment as deputy commander of the United States Space Command.[14][15] He relinquished command of the Combined Force Space Component Command on November 16, 2020, to Major General DeAnna Burt.[16] He was promoted and transferred to the Space Force on November 23, 2020, in a ceremony at the U.S. Air Force Academy and took on duties as deputy commander of U.S. Space Command the next day.[17] On October 5, 2023, he relinquished his position as deputy commander after he extension caused by Senator Tommy Tuberville's hold on his successor's nomination.[18]
Shaw held his retirement ceremony on September 8, 2023. His official retirement was on November 1, 2023.[5]
Civilian career
After retiring, Shaw joined the national security space strategic advisory group of Sierra Space.[19][20]
Royal Air Force Historical Society and U.S. Air Force Historical Foundation "Two Air Forces" Award for Writing (1998)
Dates of promotion
Tonia Shaw (left) and her son, Timothy Shaw (right), pin newly promoted Lt. Gen. Shaw during the general's promotion and transfer ceremony on November 23, 2020.
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Douglas Andrew Schiess is a United States Space Force lieutenant general who serves as the commander of United States Space Forces – Space and combined joint force space component commander of the United States Space Command. He previously served as the commander of Combined Force Space Component Command and vice commander of Space Operations Command.
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↑ Kirby, Lynn (June 30, 2020). "USSF field command structure reduces command layers, focuses on space warfighter needs". United States Space Force. Retrieved October 4, 2021. The staff and operations elements of USSF at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, which is also the former AFSPC, will become the headquarters SpOC. There is an existing unit at Vandenberg AFB, California, named Space Operations Command, which will be renamed upon activation of the field command SpOC. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
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