Ed Bolton
SVP Defense Systems
The Aerospace Corporation
Edward Bolton is senior vice president of Defense Systems Group. He assumed this position on July 1, 2016. He is responsible for promoting the use of corporate and government resources through horizontal and cross-program integrated planning and engineering. Defense Systems Group comprises the corporation’s Colorado Operations, Missile Defense Division, Office of the Chief Architect/Engineer, National Space Systems Engineering, the Integrated System Architecture Office, and the Strategic Awareness and Policy and Space Radar directorates.
Bolton was senior vice president of Special Studies before assuming his current position. He joined Aerospace on April 4, 2016, coming to the corporation from the Federal Aviation Administration, where he was the assistant administrator for NextGen.
Bolton retired from the U.S. Air Force in 2013 as a major general, after 37 years of enlisted and commissioned service. His last assignment was as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Budget. Other roles included commander, 45th Space Wing and director, Eastern Range, Patrick Air Force Base; commander, 30th Space Operations Group, Vandenberg Air Force Base; deputy director, Systems Integration and Engineering and principal deputy to the chief operating office, National Reconnaissance Office (NRO); and director of space and cyber operations and deputy chief of staff for Operations, Plans and Requirements, Headquarters U.S. Air Force. Bolton also directed the Satellite and Launch Systems and the Space Launch and Range Systems program offices at the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base.
Bolton earned a B.S.in electrical engineering from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, and two M.S. degrees: the first in systems management from the University of Southern California, and the second in national security strategy from the National War College. He has completed senior executive programs at Harvard, and courses in executive program management and systems acquisition at the Defense System Management College, Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
Among Bolton’s awards and honors are the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal with oak leaf cluster; Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster; Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters; the Air Force Commendation Medal; the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with three oak leaf clusters; and the Air Force Organizational Excellence Award with two oak leaf clusters. Bolton is also the recipient of the 2008 NRO Leadership Award, and the 2009 NRO Gold Medal.
Bolton is a life member of the Air Force Association. The Aerospace Corporation is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to the objective application of science and technology toward the solution of critical issues affecting the nation’s space program.