Commander

Cook

LIEUTENANT COLONEL JEFFREY J. COOK

Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey J. Cook is the Professor of Aerospace Studies and Chairman of the Department of Aerospace Studies in the Division of Military Education at Boston University.  He has spent the majority of his career in space systems acquisition and academia.  During his two tours at the United States Air Force Academy, he has served in the roles of  Assistant Professor of Economics, Director of Personnel, Deputy Department Head for Economics, and Director of Assessment.  While in the space acquisition business, Lt Col Cook served as the Director of Program Control for the Space Systems Program Office at the National Reconnaissance Organization (NRO), as a Space Programs Analyst for Air Force Space Command, and as a Satellite Program Analyst and Cost Estimator at Space Systems Division.

Lieutenant Colonel Cook grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin. He later went on to the United States Air Force Academy and graduated with Academic Distinction in 1988, earning an economics major and Bachelor of Science degree. Los Angeles Air Force Station and the Defense Satellite Communication System (DSCS) was his first assignment followed by graduate school at Indiana University to gain a Masters in Economics.  The first of two US Air Force Academy tours came next, from 1993 to 1997, with a transfer to Peterson AFB, CO, to be a program analyst for the Plans and Programs Office at AF Space Command.  In 2000, Lt Col Cook was assigned to the National Reconnaissance Office in Chantilly, VA, to work in the SIGINT Comptroller’s Office followed by a transfer to the Space Systems Program Office to run the Program Control Division and the System Program Office’s $8B+ budget.  At the request of the USAFA Economics Department, he returned to the Academy, to teach and take on the role of Director of Personnel, which he held from 2004 to 2006.  The remaining three years of his assignment (2006 – 2009), he ran the economics side of the Department of Economics and Geosciences (DFEG), coupled with an intervening deployment to Germany to work at the Commander’s Interagency Engagement Group (CIEG), followed by taking on the responsibility of Director of Assessment for one year before heading to Boston to be the Det 355 Commander.

His military decorations include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters (OLC), and Air Force Commendation Medal.

EDUCATION

1988  Bachelor of Science in Economics, United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO

1993  Masters of Economics, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

1994  Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, AL

2000  Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, AL

2006  Air War College, Maxwell AFB, AL

ASSIGNMENTS

  1. Aug 1988 – Mar 1990, DSCS Program Analyst, Los Angeles AFB, CA
  2. Mar 1990 – Aug 1991, SATCOM Program Analyst, Los Angeles AFB, CA
  3. Aug 1991 – Jun 1993,  Student, Graduate Economics, Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN
  4. Jun 1993 – Jul 1995,  Instructor of Economics & Personnel Officer, USAF Academy, CO
  5. Jul 1995 – Oct 1997,  Asst Prof of Economics & Personnel Officer, USAF Academy, CO
  6. Oct 1997 – May 2000,  Chief Program Objective Memorandum Section, Peterson AFB, CO
  7. May 2000 – May 2001, Chief, Spacecraft and Processing Acquisition, NRO, Washington DC
  8. May 2001 – Jun 2003, Deputy Director, Program Control, NRO, Washington DC
  9. Jun 2003 – Jun 2004, Director, Program Control, NRO, Washington DC
  10. Jun 2004 – Jul 2006, Director of Personnel, Asst Prof of Economics, USAF Academy, CO
  11. Jul 2006 – Jul 2009, Deputy Department Head for Economics, Asst Prof of Economics, USAF Academy, CO
  12. Jul 2009 – Jun 2010, Director of Assessment, Asst Prof of Economics, USAF Academy, CO
  13. Jul 2010 – Present, Commander, AFROTC Detachment 355, Boston University, MA

DATES OF PROMOTION

Second Lieutenant – Jun 1988

First Lieutenant – Jun 1990

Captain – Jun 1992

Major – Oct 1999

Lieutenant Colonel – Aug 2004

(Current as of July 2010)