General Chilton completed a 34 1/2-year Air Force career as Commander of U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) from 2007 to 2011. He was responsible for the plans and operations for all U.S. forces conducting strategic nuclear deterrence and the Department of Defense’s space and cyberspace operations. General Chilton also commanded Air Force Space Command, 8th Air Force, USSTRATCOM Space and Global Strike Command, Air Force Cyber Command, and the 9th Reconnaissance Wing. His Pentagon staff assignments included Deputy Director for Political-Military Affairs for Asia, Pacific and the Middle East, Deputy Director for Air Force Programs, and Air Force Assistant Vice Chief of Staff. He served 11 years as a NASA astronaut, where he flew as the Commander of STS-76, his third Space Shuttle mission, and served as the Deputy Program Manager for Operations for the International Space Station Program.
General Chilton is a distinguished graduate of the US Air Force Academy, with a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Engineering Sciences, a Columbia University Guggenheim Fellow with a Master of Sciences degree in Mechanical Engineering, and a distinguished graduate of the US Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training and Test Pilot schools. General Chilton was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Creighton University in 2010.
General Chilton is currently President of Chilton & Associates, LLC, and serves as a Director for the Lumen and Aerojet Rocketdyne Corporations, and Cobham Advanced Electronic Solutions. He is a Trustee for the Air Force Academy Falcon Foundation, a member of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories Board of Governors, and a member of the Sandia National Laboratory Board of Managers.
General Chilton is a former Director of the Aerospace Corp, Anadarko Petroleum Corp, the US Air Force Academy Association of Graduates, the Los Alamos National Laboratory Board of Governors, Level 3 Corp, Orbital Sciences Corp, Orbital ATK Corp, HDT Corp, and the Schafer Corp.