New Wright State trustee a former WPAFB lieutenant general
Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. John F. Thompson has been appointed to the Wright State University Board of Trustees for a nine-year term, replacing Doug Fecher, whose term expired June 30. Thompson resides in Oakwood.
Thompson served as former commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base, responsible for more than 6,000 employees and an annual budget of $9 million. He worked there from May 2017 to July 2021, according to the Air Force’s website.
He also served as commander of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base between October 2014 and May 2017. He worked at Wright-Patterson for a significant portion of his career, according to his Air Force biography, including during his promotion to lieutenant general.
Thompson served as the chief of the Commodities Division at Ogden Air Logistics Center in Utah; chief of the Air Vehicle Division, C-17 System Program Office, at Wright-Patterson; director of propulsion at the Oklahoma City Air Logistic Complex; and chief of staff of the Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson.
He commanded the 327th Aircraft Sustainment Wing at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma and the 303rd Aeronautical Systems Wing at Wright-Patterson, where he served as Air Force program executive officer for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
Thompson entered the Air Force in 1984 after graduating from the Air Force Academy and was promoted to lieutenant general in 2014. Wright State noted he has a master’s degree in industrial engineering from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio.
He also studied at the Squadron Officer School, Air Command and Staff College, and Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama; Defense Systems Management College at Fort Belvoir, Virginia; and Syracuse University.