NDIA mourns the passing of Gen. Thomas Moorman

Retired Air Force Gen. Thomas Moorman Jr.

ARLINGTON, VA -- The National Defense Industrial Association offers its condolences on the passing of retired Air Force Gen. Thomas Moorman Jr., who died June 18. NDIA wishes to share this tribute to Moorman from its Rocky Mountain Chapter:

Our country lost a great Airman with the passing of Gen. Thomas Moorman Jr. General Moorman was the former commander of Air Force Space Command and former Air Force vice chief of staff.  He also served on the 2001 Space Commission and was one of the first experts on President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative.

At the turn of the millennium, the Air Force realized it needed better training of its space operators to meet the threats it faced, so it built the Moorman Space Education and Training Center on Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado. Today, the facility is home to four organizations that provide space professional development courses to joint forces operating space systems and delivering critical information to the warfighter. The center is also the only Defense Department source of space training for allied and partner nations. 

Each year, the NDIA Rocky Mountain Chapter holds its NDIA Ball and presents its James V. Hartinger Award, recognizing outstanding achievement in the military space mission of the United States. General Moorman was the 1992 recipient of that award.

The NDIA Space Division similarly holds an annual dinner and presents its NDIA Honorable Peter B. Teets Award, recognizing public leadership and achievement that results in significant contributions to the development, introduction, operational contribution or support of space systems.  General Moorman was the 2019 recipient of that award.

General Moorman's legacy will be seen in the U.S. Space Force and by the generations of space operators that will have been educated and trained in the center named in his honor. Our thoughts and prayers are with Moorman family.