Brig. Gen. Jacob Middleton is the Deputy Director for Operations, Operations Directorate, the Joint Staff, in the National Military Command Center, Washington D.C. Brig. Gen. Jacob Middleton is responsible to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for ensuring continuous 24/7 operations from the National Joint Operations and Intelligence Center including nuclear command and control and global operations monitoring, reporting, and direction to combatant commands.
Brig. Gen. Middleton enlisted in the Air Force in August 1992 and received his commission through the Officer Training School in November 1998. He is a career space and missile operations officer and has commanded the Air Force Element Operations Squadron at the Aerospace Data Facility-Colorado; Vice Wing Commander, 50th Space Wing; Commander of Aerospace Data Facility-Colorado and Delta 20.
He served in the Pentagon as an Air Force Strategic Policy Intern in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs and as the Senior Congressional Advisor to the Chief of Space Operations. He deployed in support of Operations Inherent Resolve, Freedom’s Sentinel and the Resolute Support mission; and is a graduate of the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies (SAASS). Prior to his current assignment General Middleton was the Director of National Security Space Policy, National Space Council, the White House in Washington D.C.
EDUCATION
1991 Bachelor of Arts degree, Psychology, Augusta State University, Augusta, Ga.
1997 Master of Arts, Public Administration, Troy University, Troy, Ala.
2005 Squadron Officer School, Top Third Graduate, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2007 Master of Arts, Organizational Management, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
2007 Air Command and Staff College, by correspondence, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2011 Master of Philosophy, Military Strategy, School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2014 Air War College, by correspondence, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2017 Master of Science in National Security Strategy, National War College, National Defense University, Fort Lesley
J. McNair, Washington, D.C.
ASSIGNMENTS
- November 1998 – August 1999, Student, Undergraduate Space and Missile Training, Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
- August 1999 – August 2000, Deputy Missile Combat Crew Commander, 742nd Missile Squadron, Minot AFB, N.D.
- August 2000 – August 2001, Instructor Deputy Missile Combat Crew Commander, 91st Operations Support Squadron, Minot AFB, N.D.
- August 2001 – March 2002, Missile Combat Crew Commander, 742nd Missile Squadron, Minot AFB, N.D.
- March 2002 – March 2003, Senior Crew Operations Instructor, 91st Operations Support Squadron, Minot AFB, N.D.
- March 2003 – July 2003, Wing Executive Officer, 91st Space Wing, Minot AFB, N.D.
- July 2003 – May 2005, Assistant Professor of Aerospace Studies, AFROTC Detachment 015, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Ala.
- May 2005 – June 2007, Air Force Intern, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs, and National Security Space Office, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
- June 2007 – June 2008, Chief, Current Operations, National Reconnaissance Operations Center, National Reconnaissance Office, Chantilly, Va.
- June 2008 – December 2008, Executive Officer, Deputy Director for Mission Support, National Reconnaissance Office, Chantilly, Va.
- December 2008 – June 2010, Chief Flight Safety and Vulnerability, National Reconnaissance Operations Center, National Reconnaissance Office, Chantilly, Va.
- June 2010 – June 2011, Student, School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
- June 2011 – June 2012, Operations Officer, 50th Operations Support Squadron, Schriever AFB, Colo.
- June 2012 – May 2014, Commander, Space Operations Squadron, Space Operations Wing, Aerospace Data Facility Colorado, Buckley AFB, Colo.
- May 2014 – July 2015, Chief Speechwriter to the Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
- July 2015 – July 2016, Deputy Chief, Senate Liaison Division, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
- July 2016 – June 2017, Student, National War College, National Defense University, Fort McNair, Washington, D.C.
- June 2017 – July 2019, Vice Commander, 50th Space Wing, Schriever AFB, Colo. (January 2019 – July 2019, Director of Space Forces, Combined Air and Space Operations Center, Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar)
- August 2019 – August 2021, Commander, Aerospace Data Facility Colorado and Delta 20, Buckley AFB, Colo.
- August 2021 – April 2022, Senior Congressional Advisor, Office of the Chief of Space Operations, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
- April 2022 – July 2023, Director of National Security Space Policy, National Space Council, the White House, Washington, D.C.
- July 2023 – Present, Deputy Director for Operations, Joint Staff, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS
- August 2019 – Augusta 2021, Commander, Aerospace Data Facility-Colorado, Buckley AFB, Colo., as a Colonel
- July 2023 – Present, Deputy Director for Operations, Joint Staff, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., as a Brigadier General.
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Defense Superior Service Medal Legion of Merit
Defense Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
Joint Service Commendation Medal
Air and Space Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS
2003 General Thomas S. Power Award – Best Missile Combat Crew in USAF
2021 National Reconnaissance Office Gold medal
BADGES AND WEAPON SYSTEMS
Master Space Badge
Basic Missile Operations Badge
Basic Civil Engineer Badge
Weapon System: Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, Operational Responsive Space-1, Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program
Space-1, Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program
Effective dates of promotion
Second Lieutenant November 13, 1998
First Lieutenant November 13, 2000
Captain November 13, 2002
Major July 1, 2008
Lieutenant Colonel December 1, 2011
Colonel May 1, 2017
Brigadier General December 23, 2022
(Current as of October 2023)