John W. Raymond | |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | Jay |
Born | Monterey County, California, U.S. | April 30, 1962
Allegiance | United States |
Branch | |
Years of service | 1984–2019 (Air Force)
|
Rank | General |
Commands | |
Battles / wars | |
Awards | |
Alma mater | |
Spouse(s) | Mollie Raymond (m. 1987) |
Relations | Charles W. Raymond (great great grandfather) |
Signature |
John William Raymond (born April 30, 1962) [1] is a retired United States Space Force general who served as the first chief of space operations from 2019 to 2022. The first guardian, he served as commander of the United States Space Command from 2019 to 2020.
Raised in a military family, Raymond was commissioned into the United States Air Force in 1984 after graduating from Clemson University. A career missile and space operations officer, he has commanded the 5th Space Surveillance Squadron, 30th Operations Group, Fourteenth Air Force, Joint Force Space Component Command, and Air Force Space Command. He has been deployed to serve in the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War.
In 2016, Raymond assumed command of the Air Force Space Command and, in 2019, assumed additional duties as unified combatant command commander following the reestablishment of the U.S. Space Command. When the U.S. Space Force was established, he became the first chief of space operations. He also became the first member of the Space Force, ending his over 35 years of service in the Air Force.
For his work in leading the initial building of the Space Force, Raymond has been described as the "father of the Space Force". As the first chief of space operations, he oversaw the standup of new Space Force organizations, transfer of personnel from other military branches, consolidation of space units from other services, and setting its culture. He relinquished his post as chief of space operations in 2022 and retired from military service in 2023.
Following his retirement from military service, Raymond joined the board of directors of Axiom Space and Impulse Space. He also serves as a senior managing director Cerberus Capital Management and a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution.
Born in Monterey County, California, [1] and raised in Alexandria, Virginia, John William Raymond is the son of Barbara Ryan and retired United States Army Colonel John Allen Raymond (1935–2016). [2] [3] Since 1865, his family has had graduates from United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, including his great great grandfather, great grandfather, grandfather, and father. [4] [5] His great great grandfather, Army Brigadier General Charles Walker Raymond, graduated as the top cadet of his class in 1865. [6] [7] As an Army captain, civil engineer Charles Raymond commanded a delegation that went to Northern Tasmania to time the transit of Venus in December 1874. His father was a 1958 graduate of West Point, where he once taught astronomy. [8] [9]
Raymond graduated from Clemson University in 1984 with a B.S. degree in administrative management before he was commissioned in the United States Air Force. [2] He later earned an M.S. degree from the Central Michigan University in 1990 and an M.A. degree in national security and strategic studies from the Naval War College in 2003. He also attended Squadron Officer School in 1990, Air Command and Staff College in 1997, and the Joint Forces Staff College in 2007. He also completed Air University's Combined Force Air Component Commander Course and Joint Flag Officer Warfighting Course. [10]
Raymond was commissioned in the Air Force in 1984 as a second lieutenant following his graduation from Clemson University. The following year, he was assigned to the 321st Strategic Missile Wing as a missile combat crew commander at Grand Forks Air Force Base. From 1989 to 1993, Raymond was an operations center officer controller with the 1st Strategic Aerospace Division and executive officer of the 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg Air Force Base. In 1993, he was assigned to Air Force Space Command as chief of commercial space lift operations and assistant chief of current operations and, in 1996, as deputy director for commander-in-chief's action group. [10]
In 1997, after attending Air Command and Staff College, Raymond was stationed at the Pentagon first as a space and missile Force programmer at the Air Force headquarters and then as chief of expeditionary aerospace force space and program integration. He remained there until 2000, at which time he assumed command of the 5th Space Surveillance Squadron located at RAF Feltwell in England. The following year, Raymond returned to the United States and became deputy commander of the 21st Operations Group. From 2002 to 2003, he studied at Naval War College. For two years after that, he was assigned as a transformation strategist to the Office of the United States Secretary of Defense. In 2005, he returned to Vandenberg Air Force Base and assumed command of the 30th Operations Group. He held that position until 2007, when he was named Commander of the 21st Space Wing. [10]
In 2009, Raymond was reassigned to Air Force Space Command as director of plans, programs, and analyses. From December 2010 to July 2012, he served as vice commander of the Fifth Air Force and deputy commander of the Thirteenth Air Force at Yokota Air Base, Japan. From July 2012 to January 2014, he served as director of plans and policy of the United States Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base.
Raymond was promoted to lieutenant general on January 31, 2014, and assumed command of the Fourteenth Air Force and the Joint Functional Component Command for Space at Vandenberg. [11] He replaced Lieutenant General Susan Helms who was retiring after her failed nomination as Air Force Space Command vice commander. [12] He relinquished command to Lieutenant General David J. Buck on August 14, 2015, to return to the Pentagon and serve as the deputy chief of staff for operations of the U.S. Air Force. [13]
Raymond was nominated for promotion to the rank of general and to the command of Air Force Space Command on September 8, 2016. [14] This nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 15. [15] He assumed command of the Air Force Space Command on October 27, 2016, replacing John E. Hyten who was then tapped to become the commander of United States Strategic Command. [16] On December 1, 2017, the Joint Functional Component Command for Space was restructured as the Joint Force Space Component Command and Raymond was dual-hatted as commander of the newly reorganized unit under U.S. Strategic Command. [17]
By 2018, plans were made to reestablish the United States Space Command and Raymond was tasked to plan for its standup. [18] [19] He asked five planners to help him plan such standup, including U.S. Army Brigadier General Thomas L. James and U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Shawn Bratton, and then-Brigadier General David N. Miller to lead a task force that did the detailed planning. [20] On March 22, 2019, he was nominated to lead that unified combatant command, and was then confirmed by the United States Senate on June 27. [21] [22] He assumed command of the newly reestablished U.S. Space Command on August 29, 2019, while retaining command of Air Force Space Command. [23]
Raymond is a proponent for declassifying space capabilities and intelligence as a way for deterring adversaries opening more dialogue about space threats. [24] [25] Along with Admiral Philip S. Davidson and seven other combatant commanders, he signed a memo—called informally as the "36-star memo"—addressed to the United States Intelligence Community that called for declassifying space-related intelligence. [26]
In February 2020, Raymond called out Russia for "threatening behavior" in outer space, threatening a U.S. national security satellite. This was the first time the U.S. military has publicly identified a direct threat to a specific American satellite by an adversary. [27] [28]
While being the chief of the new military service, he continued serving as commander of the U.S. Space Command until August 20, 2020, when he relinquished command to his deputy, General James H. Dickinson. [29] The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, which also created the Space Force, included a provision which allowed the chief of space operations to concurrently serve as commander of the combatant command for one year. [30]
When the creation of the Space Force or space corps was debated, Raymond initially did not support the idea of creating a separate space corps. In 2017, he wrote in a Defense One article that while he applauded the increased focus on space as a warfighting domain, what is needed instead is deeper integration and more resources. [31] By April 2019, he reversed his position, supporting the Trump administration's proposal to establish the Space Force under the Department of the Air Force. [32]
On December 20, 2019, the U.S. Space Force was established by redesignating the Air Force Space Command as a separate service. Raymond, then commander of Air Force Space Command, was appointed as the first chief of space operations. According to President Donald Trump, "With today's signing I will proudly appoint Gen. Jay Raymond the first chief of space operations and he will become the very first member of the Space Force and he will be on the Joint Chiefs." [33] By becoming the first member of the Space Force, he left the Air Force after over 35 years of military service. He was officially sworn in by Vice President Mike Pence on January 14, 2020. [34]
In November 2020, Raymond released the Chief of Space Operations' Planning Guidance where he outlined his five priorities as the service chief of the Space Force: building a lean and agile service, developing joint warfighters, delivering new capabilities, expand international cooperation, and creating a digital service. He also ordered the creation of the Space Warfighting Analysis Center and National Space Intelligence Center. [35] [36]
The law that created the Space Force stated that the chief of space operations will become a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff only a year after its enactment, but Raymond was allowed to join the Joint Chiefs immediately because then-Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley viewed it important to national security. [37] In December 2020, Raymond became an official member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, his office becoming the 8th member of the Joint Chiefs. [38] Together with other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Raymond denounced the 2021 United States Capitol attack. [39]
Raymond, and almost all the other Joint Chiefs of Staff members, went into quarantine in October 2020 after coming into contact with Admiral Charles Ray, who tested positive for COVID-19. [40]
Raymond pushes for international norms of behavior for the space domain. Without those norms of behavior, he likened space as the "Wild, Wild West." [41] This "rules of the road" for space is what he wants to pass on to his successors. [42] In November 2021, he wrote an opinion piece for the Washington Post, detailing what the Space Force is doing to establish international norms and standards of behavior in space. [43]
On November 2, 2022, Raymond transferred responsibility as chief of space operations to B. Chance Saltzman. [44] [45] During the ceremony, Secretary Frank Kendall III called Raymond the "father of the Space Force". [46] [47] He retired from active duty on January 1, 2023, after 38 years of service. [48]
After retiring, Raymond joined the board of directors at Axiom Space while also serving as the company's strategic adviser on space domain safety and security matters. [49] In May 2023, he joined an investment firm, Cerberus Capital Management, as a senior managing director on the company’s supply chain and strategic opportunities platform, providing strategic guidance on a portfolio of investments in technology, aerospace, and defense modernization areas. [50] In February 2024, he joined the board of directors of Impulse Space, a space startup founded by Tom Mueller, a SpaceX founding member. [51]
Raymond is also a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution. [52]
Raymond is married to Mollie Raymond from Saint Paul, Minnesota, whom he met during his first assignment at Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota and while she was studying at the University of North Dakota. They got married in June 1987 after Mollie graduated from college. [53] They have three children. [54]
Raymond is the recipient of the following awards: [10]
Command Space Operations Badge | |
Command Missile Operations Badge | |
Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge | |
Space Staff Badge |
Rank | Branch | Date [10] |
---|---|---|
Second lieutenant | Air Force | July 20, 1984 |
First lieutenant | July 20, 1986 | |
Captain | July 20, 1988 | |
Major | July 1, 1996 | |
Lieutenant colonel | July 1, 1999 | |
Colonel | July 1, 2004 | |
Brigadier general | August 19, 2009 | |
Major general | May 4, 2012 | |
Lieutenant general | January 31, 2014 | |
General | October 25, 2016 | |
General | Space Force | December 20, 2019 |
United States Space Command is a unified combatant command of the United States Department of Defense, responsible for military operations in outer space, specifically all operations 100 kilometers and greater above mean sea level. U.S. Space Command is responsible for the operational employment of space forces that are provided by the uniformed services of the Department of Defense.
The United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command (USASMDC) is the Army Service Component Command (ASCC) for United States Strategic Command and United States Space Command. It was established in 1985 as the Army Strategic Defense Command, responsible for ballistic missile defense. In 1992, it merged with Army Space Command to become Army Space and Strategic Defense Command. In 1997, it became an Army Major Command and was redesignated Army Space and Missile Defense Command.
The United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. Headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, USSTRATCOM is responsible for strategic nuclear deterrence, global strike, and operating the Defense Department's Global Information Grid. It also provides a host of capabilities to support the other combatant commands, including integrated missile defense; and global command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR). This command exists to give "national leadership a unified resource for greater understanding of specific threats around the world and the means to respond to those threats rapidly".
A space command is a military organization with responsibility for space operations and warfare. A space command is typically a joint organization or organized within a larger military branch and is distinct from a fully independent space force. The world's first space command, the United States' Air Force Space Command was established in 1982 and later became the United States Space Force in 2019.
Charles Quinton Brown Jr. is a United States Air Force general who has served as the 21st chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since October 1, 2023. Prior to his appointment, Brown served as the 22nd chief of staff of the Air Force from 2020 to 2023. Brown entered the Air Force in 1984 and served as a fighter pilot, where he has logged over 3,000 flight hours, including 130 hours in combat. He has commanded the Pacific Air Forces, U.S. Air Forces Central Command, 31st Fighter Wing, 8th Fighter Wing, U.S. Air Force Weapons School, and 78th Fighter Squadron. He has also served as deputy commander of the U.S. Central Command.
Sandra E. Finan was the Deputy Chief Information Officer for Command, Control, Communications and Computers (C4) and Information Infrastructure Capabilities, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Pentagon, Washington D.C.
Paul Joseph Selva is a retired United States Air Force four-star general who served as the tenth vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In this capacity, he was the nation's second-highest-ranking military officer, and the highest-ranking officer in the Air Force. He assumed his last assignment on July 31, 2015, and retired on August 1, 2019. Selva is a command pilot with more than 3,100 hours in the C-5, C-17A, C-141B, C-37, KC-10, KC-135A and T-37.
John Earl Hyten is a retired United States Air Force general who served as the 11th vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2019 to 2021. A career space operations and acquisitions officer, he commanded the United States Strategic Command from 2016 to 2019 and the Air Force Space Command from 2014 to 2016.
Terrence John O'Shaughnessy is a retired United States Air Force four-star general who previously served as the commander of United States Northern Command and as the commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command.
The United States Space Force (USSF) is the United States Armed Forces' space service and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is one of two independent space forces in the world.
The chief of space operations (CSO) is the service chief of the United States Space Force. The CSO is the principal military adviser to the secretary of the Air Force for Space Force operations and, as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a military adviser to the National Security Council, the secretary of defense, and the president. The CSO is a statutory office held by a Space Force general, who is typically the highest-ranking officer on active duty in the Space Force.
Matthew Wolfe Davidson is a United States Air Force major general who serves as the commander of the Second Air Force. He previously served as the deputy director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency from 2023 to 2024.
Donna D. Shipton is a United States Air Force lieutenant general who serves as commander of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center. The center is responsible for total life cycle management for aircraft, engines, munitions, electronic, computer, network, cyber and agile combat support systems. The center employs more than 28,000 people and has a budget of over $300 billion. Previously she served as military deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics.
James H. Dickinson is a retired United States Army general who served as the commander of the United States Space Command from 2020 to 2024. He previously served as deputy commander of the United States Space Command from 2019 to 2020.
Bradley Chance Saltzman is a United States Space Force general who is the second and current chief of space operations. He served as the deputy chief of space operations for operations, cyber, and nuclear from 2020 to 2022. He is the first lieutenant general and the first general officer promoted into the Space Force.
Donald Jason Cothern is a United States Space Force major general who serves as the program executive for ground-based weapon systems at the Missile Defense Agency. He previously served as the deputy commander of the Space Systems Command. He transferred to the Space Force from the United States Air Force in May 2021.
DeAnna Marie Burt is a United States Space Force lieutenant general who has served as the deputy chief of space operations for operations, cyber, and nuclear since 2022. She is the first female major general and second female general officer in the Space Force.
The United States Space Force is organized by different units: the Space Staff, the field commands, and the space deltas.
David N. Miller Jr. is a United States Space Force lieutenant general who has served as the commander of Space Operations Command. He previously served as the director of operations, training, and force development of the United States Space Command.
While the United States Space Force gained its independence on 20 December 2019, the history of the United States Space Force can be traced back to the beginnings of the military space program following the conclusion of the Second World War in 1945. Early military space development was begun within the United States Army Air Forces by General Henry H. Arnold, who identified space as a crucial military arena decades before the first spaceflight. Gaining its independence from the Army on 18 September 1947, the United States Air Force began development of military space and ballistic missile programs, while also competing with the United States Army and United States Navy for the space mission.