Colonel Nathan D. Yates is the Mobilization Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Operations, Cyber, and Nuclear, Pentagon, Washington D.C. As a member of the executive staff, he leads the organization, training, equipping and presentation of globally integrated space forces executing a broad spectrum of missions for combatant commands worldwide.
Col Yates was commissioned through the Reserve Officer Training Corps and graduated from the University of Virginia in 1994. He served on Active Duty from 1995-2002 and has since served in the Air Force Reserve in both part-time and full-time status. Col Yates is a Command Space Operator and Instructor/Evaluator with operational experience in Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Operations, Satellite Command and Control, Strategic/Theater Missile Warning, and Joint Space Operations Command and Control.
Prior to his current position, he was the Reserve Advisor, Office of the Chief of Space Operations, Headquarters United States Space Force, Pentagon.
EDUCATION
1994 Bachelor of Science – Systems Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.
1997 Master of Science - Management, Troy State University, Troy, Ala.
2000 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2007 Ph.D. – Information Systems, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif.
2010 Air Command and Staff College by Correspondence
2014 Air War College by Correspondence
2016 Joint and Combined Warfighting School (JCWS) – Hybrid
2019 NATO Senior Reserve Officers Course, Oberammergau, Germany
2022 Enterprise Leadership Seminar, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
2023 Artificial Intelligence for National Security, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
ASSIGNMENTS
1. January 1995-September 1995, Undergraduate Space and Missile Training and Undergraduate Missile Training, Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
2. September 1995-December 1999, ICBM Operations Instructor/Evaluator/Missile Combat Crew Commander, 341st Operations Group, 10th Missile Squadron and 341st Operations Support Squadron, Malmstrom AFB, Mont.
3. December 1999-February 2002, Evaluator/Crew Commander, Satellite Command and Control, 50th Operations Group and 3rd Space Operations Squadron, Schriever AFB, Colo.
4. March 2002-February 2007, Chief, Space Based Infra-Red System (SBIRS) Warfighter Interoperability, SBIRS Program Office, Los Angeles AFB, Calif.
5. February 2007-September 2011, Individual Mobilization Assistant to the Chief, Current Operations and Crisis Response Branch, Secretary of the Air Force Office of Information Dominance and CIO, Pentagon, Washington D.C.
6. September 2011-June 2013, Chief, Operations Employment Branch, 9th Space Operations Squadron, Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
7. June 2013-March 2014, Director of Operations, 8th Space Warning Squadron, Buckley AFB, Colo.
8. March 2014-March 2015, Commander, 8th Space Warning Squadron, Buckley AFB, Colo.
9. March 2015-July 2017, Deputy Commander, 310th Operations Group, Schriever AFB, Colo.
10. July 2017 – July 2020, Commander, Headquarters, Individual Reservist Readiness & Integration Organization, Detachment 8, Patch Barracks, United States Army Garrison, Stuttgart, Germany.
11. July 2020 – January 2023, Reserve Advisor, Office of the Chief of Space Operations, United States Space Force, Pentagon, Washington D.C.
12. January 2023 – Present, Mobilization Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Operations, Cyber, and Nuclear, Pentagon, Washington D.C.
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Meritorious Service Medal with five oak leaf clusters Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with five oak leaf clusters Air Force Organizational Excellence Award
Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medal Combat Readiness Medal
OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS
1998 Air Force Space Command Crew Member Excellence Award 1999 Distinguished Graduate, DSCS III Satellite Vehicle Operator IQT
2010 Reserve Officer of the Year, Secretary of the Air Force Office of Information Dominance and CIO 2013 Superior Academic Achievement Award, SBIRS Mission IQT
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant November 1, 1994
First Lieutenant November 1, 1996
Captain November 1, 1998
Major November 1, 2005
Lieutenant Colonel August 10, 2012
Colonel July 10, 2017
(Current as of April 2023)