General Jay Raymond
Commander, U.S. Space Force
John William “Jay” Raymond was born in 1952. He grew up in Alexandria, Virginia. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy, and earned a degree in Administrative Management from Clemson University. He was commissioned into the U.S. Air Force and assigned to a strategic missile wing at Grand Forks Air Force Base.
He has been involved in the aerospace divisions of the U.S. Air Force from the beginning. After time stationed at the Pentagon, he assumed command of a space surveillance squadron located in England. Back in the U.S., he became Deputy Commander of an operations group, where he was assigned to the office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense. A year later, he returned to Vandenberg Air Force Base and assumed command of an operations group, serving there until he was reassigned to the Air Force Space Command, taking on several positions there.
He served in the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War.
He was confirmed as the Air Force Space Command’s top general in 2016. In March 2019, he was nominated to become the Commander of the United States Space Command, and in December 2019, Raymond became the U.S. Space Force’s first Chief of Space Operations.
In the News…
“Rocket Cargo” is the fourth initiative in the Vanguard program seeking to research and advance the military’s technological capabilities. It is being led by the U.S. Space Force and Air Force and could “fundamentally alter the rapid logistics landscape,” General Raymond said.
The Air Force Research Laboratory will research how the military could employ the technology, including the ability for rockets to land on nontraditional surfaces and remote sites. Researchers will also determine whether cargo rockets can safely land near service personnel and other structures.
Other research and engineering initiatives within the program will consider how to develop a rocket cargo bay that can rapidly load and unload materials and how to airdrop cargo to service locations where military vehicles are unable to land.
“The Rocket Cargo Vanguard is a clear example of how the Space Force is developing innovative solutions as a service, in particular the ability to provide independent options in, from, and to space,” said Chief of Space Operations General Jay Raymond.
