Board of Directors, MDAA
Jon “Ty” Thomas serves on the Board of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance. As a Director, he assists MDAA with advocacy to advance air and missile defense capabilities and capacity for US, allied, and partner forces.
Ty retired in October 2021 as a Lieutenant General after serving over 32 years in the United States Air Force (USAF), most recently as Deputy Commander, Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), and the Deputy Theater Joint Force Air Component Commander to the Commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. In these roles, he was the deputy to the air component commander and area air defense commander within the largest and most critical geographic theater in the US military. Prior to assignment at PACAF, Ty served as deputy commander of the USAF Air Mobility Command responsible for global aerial refueling, airlift, and aeromedical evacuation missions of the USAF. In addition to Pacific and air mobility assignments, he has extensive experience in Europe from multiple tours at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, including duty as the Director of Operations, Strategic Deterrence, and Nuclear Integration, Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa; commander of the 86th Airlift Wing and 86th Operations Group; and deputy commander of the 603d Air and Space Operations Center.
Ty is a graduate of the Air Force Academy, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and the Air War College. He is a combat-proven pilot, with over 4,100 flight hours in the C-17, KC-10, C-130, T-38, and eight other aircraft.