Speakers

Col James T. Horne III is the Commander of Space Launch Delta 30 (SLD 30) and the Western Launch and Test Range at Vandenberg Space Force Base. He ensures mission success for 26 mission partners, including U.S. Space Forces – Space, Space Delta 1, Space Delta 5, the 100th Missile Defense Brigade, and the 377th Test and Evaluation Group, by providing essential operational and logistical installation support and security. He oversees $11.2B in assets and a $280M annual budget across the 118,000-acre installation, leading over 11,000 personnel to enable critical space and missile operations and development. Col Horne recently served as the Senior Materiel Leader, Launch Execution Delta, Assured Access to Space, Space Systems Command. He led a 525+ member team executing the $12.3B National Security Space Launch program directing production, integration and launch of the Falcon, Vulcan, New Glenn, Atlas, and Delta launch vehicle systems.

Col Horne received his commission from the United States Air Force Academy in May 2000 and earned a Master of Business Administration from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California in 2007. He transferred to the United States Space Force in June 2021. He has commanded the 30th Range Management Squadron at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.; served as Materiel Leader and Chief Engineer, Atlas V; served as the Chief of ICBM Standardization and Evaluation, and as a Minuteman III Missile Combat Crew Commander, Evaluator and Assistant Director of Operations; and served as Deputy Director, Assured Access to Space Directorate, and Deputy Director, Operations, Space Systems Command. His acquisitions experience includes work with Tactical Data Link systems in support of Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and Noble Eagle, as well as space launch supporting the design, development, qualification and first flights of the Atlas V and Vulcan rocket programs. In the deployed environment he has served as a Personal Representative to Enemy Non-Combatant Detainees from the Global War on Terror, at the Joint Detention Group, Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. His staff assignments include Headquarters Air Force and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.