General Thomas S. Moorman Jr. was vice chief of staff, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.

General Moorman was born in Washington, D.C. He was commissioned through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program as a distinguished military graduate in 1962. The general has served in a variety of intelligence and reconnaissance related positions within the United States and worldwide. While stationed at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., in 1982, he became deeply involved in the planning and organizing for the establishment of Air Force Space Command. During his Pentagon tour in 1987, he also provided program management direction for development and procurement of Air Force surveillance, communications, navigation and weather satellites, space launch vehicles, anti-satellite weapons and ground-based and airborne strategic radars, communications and command centers. He additionally represented the Air Force in the Strategic Defense Initiative program and was authorized to accept SDI program execution responsibilities on behalf of the Air Force. As commander and vice commander of Air Force Space Command, General Moorman was responsible for operating military space systems, ground-based radars and missile warning satellites, the nation’s space launch centers at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., and Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., the worldwide network of space surveillance radars, as well as maintaining the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) force.