Contact
For panel engagements, media inquiries, and advisory work, reach out directly below.
DeAnna Burt is the strategic board member who finds where an organization's capability is locked and builds the conditions for it to perform at its ceiling. She is the person you call when the room has everything it needs to solve the problem and nobody has figured out how to unlock it yet. At Red Flag, one of the most demanding large force employment exercises in the United States Air Force, she commanded a room of the finest aviators in the world without being able to fly. Her job was not to out-perform them. It was to build the conditions in which they could perform at their ceiling. She did. That is the move she has been running for thirty-three years. She built the operational space infrastructure America depends on, the satellite networks that run GPS and financial transaction timing, the multinational command architecture coordinating allied space operations across 25 nations. She commanded every level. She ran the Space Force's cyber, nuclear, and operations mission as its Deputy Chief. She did all of this in a domain where the adversary studies your dependencies before you have mapped them, where being wrong is not a bad quarter but an irreversible outcome, and where the question is never "what do I know?" but "what does this team know that we have not yet deployed?" That question is the most valuable thing she brings. Not the record, though the record is there. The specific diagnostic capacity to walk into any organization, find where the capability is locked, and build the conditions for it to perform at its ceiling. In environments where being wrong is not recoverable, that capacity is the difference between the organization that adapts and the one that does not. She now works with boards, C-suites, and senior teams who need someone who has been accountable for that outcome and who can help them find and unlock the capability they already have.
| Live Entity Home (Canonical URL) | https://deannaburt.com/about/ |
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| Title | Organization | Department | Dates | Description | Authority Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Board Advisor | 2026-06 – Present | DeAnna Burt advises the Board of Directors for Albedo Space on space policy, strategy, and operations. | |||
| Board Advisor | 2026-06 – Present | DeAnna Burt advises the Board of Directors for Mantis Space on space policy, strategy, and operation | |||
| Board Member | 2026-06 – Present | DeAnna Burt acts as the Audit Committee Chair and Member of the PLEXSYS Board of Directors | |||
| Board Member | 2026-06 – Present | DeAnna Burt is a Board Member for the Air & Space Forces Association (AFA), a non-profit representing and advocating for Guardians and their families interests | |||
| Ambassador | 2026-02 – Present | DeAnna Burt is an Ambassador to the non-profit Cosmic Girls Foundation advocating for women in STEM and space. | |||
| Board Advisor | 2026-01 – Present | DeAnna Burt is a board advisor to FTG, advising on space related companies for investment, fund-raising and divestment. | |||
| Board Advisor | 2025-11 – Present | DeAnna Burt advises Turion's Board of Directors on space policy, strategy, and operations. | |||
| Advisor to the Board | 2025-10 – Present | Advises Kragon BoD on space policy, strategy, and operations. | |||
| Consultant | 2025-10 – Present | DeAnna Burt brings her expertise in space policy, strategy, and operations to The Kyl Institute for National Security | |||
| Founder | Be the Patch Consulting LLC | 2025 – Present | Leadership and operational advisory services drawn from her military experience. | ||
| Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Operations, Cyber, and Nuclear | The Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia | 2022-12-01 – 2025-10-01 | Directed sustainment, operational readiness, and integration of capabilities across operations, cyber, and nuclear domains; advised the Chief of Space Operations on strategic priorities for over 10,000 personnel. Succeeded B. Chance Saltzman. Succeeded by Douglas Schiess. | ||
| Special Assistant to the Vice Chief of Space Operations | The Pentagon | 2022-08 – 2022-12 | Executed key projects on behalf of the Vice Chief of Space Operations affecting policy, operations, and budgeting for the United States Space Force | ||
| Commander | Combined Force Space Component Command, Vandenberg AFB/SFB, California | 2020-11-16 – 2022-08-23 | Concurrently served as Vice Commander, Space Operations Command; integrated space operations among U.S. forces and 14 partner nations. Succeeded John E. Shaw; succeeded by Douglas Schiess. | ||
| Director of Operations and Communications | HQ Space Operations Command, Peterson AFB, Colorado | 2018-07 – 2020-11 | Worked directly for the 4-star Commander, Gen John Hyten at Air Force Space Command. Managed Congressional engagements, Commander's Speechwriter, and special event planning on behalf and in support of the Commander. Succeeded Joseph T. Guastella; succeeded by Douglas Schiess. | ||
| Vice Commander | U.S. Air Force Warfare Center, Nellis AFB, Nevada | 2017-07 – 2018-07 | Succeeded Paul A. Welch; succeeded by David W. Snoddy. | ||
| Commander | 50th Space Wing, Schriever AFB, Colorado | 2015-05 – 2017-07 | Also served as commander of the Air Expeditionary Wing during Red Flag 16-3 at Nellis AFB. Succeeded William Liquori; succeeded by Jennifer L. Grant. | ||
| Director, Commander's Action Group | Peterson AFB, Colorado | 2014-08 – 2015-05 | |||
| Commander | 460th Operations Group, Buckley AFB, Colorado | 2012-06 – 2014-08 | Managed space-based infrared systems and cyber operations. Succeeded B. Chance Saltzman; succeeded by Michael Jackson. | ||
| Chief, Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Requirements Division | Air Force Space Command, Peterson AFB, Colorado | 2010-08 – 2011-08 | Staff Director in the A5 of Air Force Space Command. Led service wide requirements and policy for the GPS constellation. | ||
| Commander | 2nd Space Operations Squadron, Schriever AFB, Colorado | 2008-08 – 2010-08 | Oversaw satellite control operations. Succeeded Kurt W. Kuntzleman; succeeded by Jennifer L. Grant. | ||
| Chief Combat Plans Division | Joint Space Operations Center, Vandenberg AFB, California | 2006-06 – 2008-07 | Member of the Joint Space Operations Center leadership team leading the planning and execution of all space assets in support of USSTRATCOM. Led the Combat Plans Division in drafting the Master Space Plan and Space Tasking Order. | ||
| Theater Missile Defense Operations Officer / Deputy Chief, Special Technical Operations Branch | HQ U.S. European Command, Stuttgart, Germany | 2001-12 – 2004-07 | Started as an action officer in the J36 working Shared Early Warning with Israel and NATO. Selected to be the Deputy STO Chief leading all Special Access Program planning and execution for the Combatant Command. | ||
| Assistant Training Flight Commander / Training Flight Commander | USAF Weapons School, Nellis AFB, Nevada | 1999-06 – 2001-12 | Instructed following graduation from USAF Weapons School Space Division in June 1999. | ||
| Executive Officer | Space Warfare Center, Schriever AFB, Colorado | 1997-10 – 1999-01 | Managed scheduling, taskers, staff coordination and travel for 1-star Space Warfare Center Commander. | ||
| Chief of Space Systems Tactical Warning Operations and Standardization/Training | 76th Space Operations Squadron, Schriever AFB, Colorado | 1995-12 – 1997-10 | Missile Warning and Missile Defense expert on the Air Force Space Support Team supporting PACOM. Deployed to numerous exercises in multiple Combatant Commands to assist in setting up Missile Warning architectures. | ||
| Crew Commander / Deputy Flight Commander / Chief of Current Operations | 4th Space Warning Squadron, Holloman AFB, New Mexico | 1993-01 – 1995-12 | Managed tactical warning operations. | ||
| Undergraduate Space Training Student | Lowry Air Force Base, Colorado | 1992-10 – 1993-01 | Completed Undergraduate Space Training. |
| Degree / Field | Institution | Dates | Honors | Description | Authority Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Professional Military Education in National Security Strategy | National War College | 2011-08 – 2012-06 | Distinguished Graduate | Distinguished Graduate (2012). | |
| Advanced Studies Certificate in Air and Space Power Strategy | School of Advanced Air and Space Studies | 2005-07 – 2006-06 | |||
| Professional Military Education in Air and Space Studies | Air Command and Staff College | 2004-07 – 2005-06 | Distinguished Graduate | Distinguished Graduate and Commandant's Leadership Award recipient (2005). | |
| Professional Military Education in Space Warfare | 1999-01 – 1999-06 | Distinguished Graduate | Distinguished Graduate and Academic Award recipient (1999). | ||
| Master of Science in Human Resources Management | 1995 | ||||
| Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering | 1991 | Distinguished Graduate | Distinguished graduate; AFROTC cadet wing commander. |
| Organization | Role |
|---|---|
| Senior Associate | |
| Member of the Board of Advisors |
She served as Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Operations, Cyber, and Nuclear from December 2022 until her retirement on October 1, 2025 -- a position she described as the 'chief operating officer' of the Space Force, with responsibility for operations, sustainment, cyber, and nuclear operations across the service.
Yes. She became the first woman to hold general-officer rank in the U.S. Space Force upon her transfer from the Air Force on May 7, 2021, and was later designated the service's first female major general, the second female general officer overall after Lt. Gen. Nina Armagno.
She retired on October 1, 2025, after 33 years of combined service in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force.
Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI) is a joint Space Force, National Reconnaissance Office, and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency effort to track moving ground and maritime targets from orbit. As Deputy Chief of Space Operations, Burt was the Space Force's senior operational voice on the program.
| Platform | Bio |
|---|---|
| Authoritative career, education, assignment, and awards record; current as of October 2025. | |
| DeAnna Burt's encyclopedia entry covering birth details, education, promotion table, and command history. | |
| Conference speaker biography for DeAnna Burt at her serving DCS role. | |
| Summary profile of DeAnna Burt emphasizing operations, cyber, and nuclear responsibilities. | |
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