Colonel JOHN D. "JB" BEATTY

Colonel John D. Beatty is the Deputy Commander, Air Force Technical Applications Center, Patrick Space Force Base, Fla.  AFTAC operates and maintains the United States Atomic Energy Detection System to monitor foreign compliance with various treaties limiting nuclear testing.  The focus of AFTAC’s more than 1,100 professionals is to detect special events in the atmosphere, underwater, underground and in space, to determine if they are nuclear, and to report them to national decision makers.
 
Colonel Beatty received his commission in 2001 from Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Detachment 536, Clarkson University, N.Y., graduating with a degree in Interdisciplinary Engineering and Management. As an acquisitions program manager, he has served in Joint, Air Force, Staff and System Program Offices at Air Force Materiel Command, Air Force Space Command, Air Combat Command, Defense Contracting Management Agency, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.  His experience spans the acquisitions lifecycle specializing in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; combat information technology; and satellite communications systems.
 
Colonel Beatty is a dual Air Force Specialty Code Airman, serving half his career as an intelligence officer leading in signals intelligence, measurement and signals intelligence, and the nuclear treaty monitoring enterprise. He commanded America’s Measurement and Signature Intelligence Analysis Squadron at the National Air and Space Intelligence Center and has served as a deputy group commander, deputy director of operations, deputy chief of collection strategies and requirements, and assistant director of operations.  In 2010, he deployed to Iraq in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn. There, he led more than 150 outside-the-wire missions targeting lethal aid operations as officer-in-charge of the Tactical Documentation and Media Exploitation Team with the 3rd Infantry Division, 3rd Brigade Combat Team at Combat Outpost Shocker in Zurbatiyah, Iraq.
 
EDUCATION
2001  Bachelor of Science, Interdisciplinary Engineering and Management, Clarkson University, N.Y.
2002  Acquisition Officer Basic Course, Defense Acquisition University, Lackland AFB, Texas
2007  Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2008  Graduate Certificate, Space Systems Engineering, University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, Colo.
2008  USAF Intelligence Officer Basic Course, Goodfellow AFB, Texas
2011  Intelligence Master Skills Course, Goodfellow AFB, Texas
2011  Space 200, Peterson AFB, Colo.
2012  Air Command and Staff College (by correspondence)
2014  Master of Science, Space Studies – Space Systems Engineering, University of North Dakota
2016  Air War College – Excellent Graduate (by correspondence)
2016  Advanced Nuclear Concepts
2016  Air Force Forces Senior Staff Course
2023  Strategic Mindset Seminar, Stimson Associates (SMI) and Air University
 
ASSIGNMENTS
1. May 2001 – July 2002, Student, Joint Specialized Undergraduate Navigator Training, 563rd Flying Training Squadron, Randolph AFB, Texas
2. July 2002 – July 2005, Acquisitions Center of Excellence Program Manager, HQ Standard Systems Group, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
3. July 2005 – February 2007, Section Chief, Protected Terminals, Military Satellite Communications Joint Program Office, Peterson AFB, Colo.
4. February 2007 – April 2008, Program Manager, Logistics and Strategic Plans, HQ AFSPC/A7, Peterson AFB, Colo.
5. April 2008 – November 2009, Student, AF Basic Intelligence Officer Course, 315th Training Squadron, Goodfellow AFB, Texas
6. November 2009 – March 2012, Deputy Chief, Collection Strategies and Requirements Center, National Security Agency Colorado and Assistant Director of Operations, 566th Intelligence Squadron, Buckley AFB, Colo.
7. March 2012 – March 2015, Chief, Director’s Action Group/Executive Officer, Operations Directorate, Defense Contract Management Agency, Fort Lee, Va.
8. March 2015 – March 2017, Deputy Division Chief, Materials Technology Directorate, AFTAC, Patrick AFB, Fla.
9. March 2017 – April 2018, Deputy Director of Operations, AFTAC, Patrick AFB, Fla.
10. April 2018 - July 2018, Deputy Commander 709th Surveillance and Analysis Group, AFTAC, Patrick AFB, Fla.
11. July 2018 – July 2020, Commander, Measurement and Signatures Analysis Squadron, NASIC, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
12. July 2020 – July 2022, Deputy Division Chief, Prototype Operations, Space and Missile Systems Center Innovation and Prototyping Directorate, Kirtland AFB, N.M.
13. August 2022 – June 2025, Senior Military Assistant to the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
14.  June 2025 – present, Deputy Commander, AFTAC, Patrick SFB, Fla.
 
SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS
1. July 2022 – June 2024, Military Assistant, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Science and Technology, Pentagon, Washington DC, as a colonel
2. June 2024 – June 2025, Senior Military Assistant, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, Pentagon, Washington, D.C., as a colonel
 
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Defense Superior Service Medal
Defense Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters
Joint Service Commendation Medal
Air and Space Commendation Medal
Army Commendation Medal
 
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant May 30, 2001
First Lieutenant May 30, 2003
Captain May 30, 2005
Major Jan. 1, 2011
Lieutenant Colonel May 1, 2016
Colonel Nov. 1, 2022
 
(Current as of June 2025)