Notional image of a SBIRS Missile Warning Satellite built on the new, more resilient LM 2100 Combat Bus™ (illustration by Lockheed Martin).

Biographies



Major General Steven P. Whitney

Maj. Gen. Steve Whitney is the Director of Staff, Headquarters, U.S. Space Force, the Pentagon, Arlington, Va. In this role, he synchronizes policy, plans, positions, procedures and cross-functional issues for the U.S. Space Force headquarters staff.

General Whitney graduated in 1992 from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and completed the university’s Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program as a distinguished graduate. Through the years, he has served in a wide variety of space system acquisition and operations leadership positions within the Air Force, Space Force, Joint Staff, Office of the Secretary of Defense, and National Reconnaissance Office. His assignments include serving as a crew commander, spacecraft engineer, senior flight commander, director of engineering, squadron commander, senior materiel leader, program director and program executive officer.

Prior to his current assignment, Maj. Gen. Whitney was the Military Deputy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration, Washington, D.C.  He was responsible for research and development, test, production, product support and modernization of Space Force programs worth more than $27 billion annually.


EDUCATION
1992   Bachelor of Electrical Engineering, University of Minnesota; Minneapolis, Minn.
1997   Squadron Officer School (Distinguished Graduate), Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2000   Master of Arts in Administrative Sciences, George Washington University; Washington, D.C.

2004   Air Command and Staff College, by correspondence
2005   Master of Science in Systems Engineering (Distinguished Graduate), Air Force Institute of Technology; Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
2007   Air War College, by correspondence
2011   Master of Science in National Security Strategy, National War College, Washington, D.C.
2013   Program Managers Course, Defense Acquisition University, Fort Belvoir, VA.
2014   Executive Program Managers Course, Defense Acquisition University, Fort Belvoir, Va.


ASSIGNMENTS
1. April 1993 – July 1996, DSP & DMSP Crew Commander and Chief, DSP Spacecraft Engineering; 1st Space Operations Squadron, Schriever AFB, Colo.
2. July 1996 – June 1998, Chief, Commanders Action Group and FDS Operations Manager; SBIRS Program Office, Los Angeles AFB, Calif.
3. June 1998 – June 2000, Air Force Intern; Directorate of Space and Nuclear Deterrence, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force and Force Management Policy, Office of the Secretary of Defense; Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
4. June 2000 – May 2004, Senior Flight Commander; Chief, Production Division; and Director of Engineering; Air Force Communications Support Facility, White Sands Missile Range, Las Cruces, N.M.
5. May 2004 – June 2005, Student, Air Force Institute of Technology; Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
6. June 2005 – May 2008, MILSATCOM Program Element Monitor and Chief, Congressional & Media Affairs; Space Acquisition Directorate, Office of the Under Secretary of the Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
7. June 2008 – July 2010, Commander, Enterprise Operations Squadron; Mission Operations Directorate, National Reconnaissance Office, Chantilly, Va.
8. August 2010 – June 2011, Student, National War College; Ft. McNair, Washington, D.C.
9. June 2011 – July 2013, Chief, Space/C4 Branch and Space Lead; Joint Chiefs of Staff (J8), Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
10. July 2013 – July 2015, Senior Materiel Leader, Global Positioning System User Equipment Division, Global Positioning Systems Directorate, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif.
11. July 2015 – June 2019, Director, Global Positioning Systems Directorate, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif.
12. October 2018 – June 2019, Program Executive Officer for Space Production, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif.
13. July 2019 – July 2020, Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
14. August 2020 – August 2021, Director, Space Programs, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
15. August 2021 – July 2023, Military Deputy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
16. July 7, 2023 – present, Director of Staff, Headquarters, U.S. Space Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.


SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS
June 2008 – July 2010, Commander, Enterprise Operations Squadron; National Reconnaissance Office, Chantilly, VA., as a lieutenant colonel
June 2011 – July 2013, Chief, Space/C4 Branch and Space Lead; Joint Chiefs of Staff (J8), Pentagon Washington, DC., as a lieutenant colonel and colonel

July 2019 – July 2020, Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment, Pentagon, Washington, DC., as a brigadier general

 

MAJOR MILITARY DECORATIONS

Air and Space Distinguished Service Medal
Defense Superior Service Medal
Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster
Defense Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
Air and Space Commendation Medal
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Armed Forces Service Medal

 

OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS
1997   Space and Missile Systems Center Company Grade Officer of the Year
1998   Forrest S. McCartney Award for Outstanding Program Management, Air Force Association
2009   National Citation of Honor, Air Force Association
2010   Director’s Circle Award for Leadership, National Reconnaissance Office
2010   Medal for Superior Service (Gold), National Reconnaissance Office
2019   Schriever Fellowship Award, Air Force Association

 

EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant 17 February 1993
First Lieutenant 17 February 1995
Captain 17 February 1997
Major 1 June 2003
Lieutenant Colonel 1 September 2007
Colonel 1 June 2012
Brigadier General 2 April 2019
Major General 29 September 2022

(Current as of July 2023)