Terrence John O'Shaughnessy (born ) is a retired

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

four-star

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

who previously served as the commander of

United States Northern Command United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) is one of eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense. The command is tasked with providing military support for non-military authorities in the U.S., and protect ...

and as the commander of

North American Aerospace Defense Command North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection ...

. Since 2021, O'Shaughnessy is employed by

SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of ...

where he leads the

Starshield (satellite constellation) Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX, providing satellite Internet access coverage to 45 countries. It also aims for global mobile phone service after 2023. SpaceX started launching Starlink satellites in 2019. A ...

government program. According to General Guillot, O'Shaughnessy proposed the SHIELD

missile defense Missile defense is a system, weapon, or technology involved in the detection, tracking, interception, and also the destruction of attacking missiles. Conceived as a defense against nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), ...

system, which stands for Strategic Homeland Integrated Ecosystem for Layered Defense.

Military career

O'Shaughnessy was born in

North Bay, Ontario North Bay is a city in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is the seat of Nipissing District, and takes its name from its position on the shore of Lake Nipissing. North Bay developed as a railroad centre, and its airport was an important military ...

, Canada, the son of Terrence O'Shaughnessy, an orthodontist who was originally from

Cobalt, Ontario Cobalt is a town in Timiskaming District, Ontario, Canada. It had a population of 1,118 at the 2016 Census. In the early 1900s, the area was heavily mined for silver; the silver ore also contained cobalt. By 1910, the community was the fourth h ...

. The family relocated to

Framingham, Massachusetts Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers with a popu ...

in 1968. He is a 1986 graduate of the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Uni ...

. He has commanded at the squadron, group and wing levels, including the

35th Fighter Wing The 35th Fighter Wing is an air combat unit of the United States Air Force and the host unit at Misawa Air Base, Japan. The wing (military aviation unit), wing is part of Pacific Air Forces (PACAF)'s Fifth Air Force. The wing was first activat ...

Misawa Air Force Base is an air base of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), List of United States Air Force installations, the United States Air Force, and the United States Navy located in Misawa, Aomori, Misawa, Aomori Prefecture, Aomori, in the northern p ...

, Japan, the 613th Air and Space Operations Center at

Hickam Air Force Base Hickam Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation, named in honor of aviation pioneer Lieutenant Colonel Horace Meek Hickam. The installation merged in 2010 with Naval Station Pearl Harbor to become part of the newly formed Joint ...

, Hawaii, and the

57th Wing The 57th Wing (57 WG) is an operational unit of the United States Air Force (USAF) Warfare Center, stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. The 57 WG's mission is to provide well trained and well equipped combat forces ready to deploy ...

Nellis Air Force Base Nellis Air Force Base ("Nellis" colloq.) is a United States Air Force installation in southern Nevada. Nellis hosts air combat exercises such as Exercise Red Flag and close air support exercises such as Green Flag-West flown in " Military ...

, Nevada. O'Shaughnessy has served as the

United States Pacific Command United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) is a unified combatant command of the United States Armed Forces responsible for the Indo-Pacific region. Formerly known as United States Pacific Command (USPACOM) since its inception in 1947, t ...

Director of Operations responsible for joint operations in a region encompassing more than half the globe and 36 nations. O'Shaughnessy's joint experience also extends to his time as the Joint Staff J5 Deputy Director for Politico-Military Affairs for Asia where he shaped regional planning and policy in the Asia-Pacific and Central Asia regions, supporting the commanders of United States Pacific Command and

United States Central Command The United States Central Command (USCENTCOM or CENTCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the U.S. Department of Defense. It was established in 1983, taking over the previous responsibilities of the Rapid Deployment Joint Tas ...

. Prior to his current assignment, O'Shaughnessy was the Deputy Commander,

United Nations Command United Nations Command (UNC or UN Command) is the multinational military force established to support the South Korea, Republic of Korea (South Korea) during and after the Korean War. It was the first international unified command in history, an ...

in Korea; Deputy Commander,

United States Forces Korea United States Forces Korea (USFK) is a Unified Combatant Command#Subordinate Unified Command, sub-unified command of United States Indo-Pacific Command, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). USFK is the joint headquarters for U.S. combat-re ...

; Commander, Air Component Command, Republic of Korea/United States Combined Forces Command; and Commander,

Seventh Air Force The Seventh Air Force (Air Forces Korea) (7 AF) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Osan Air Base, South Korea. The command's mission is to plan and direct air component operations in ...

, Pacific Air Forces, Osan Air Base, South Korea, as well as the commander of

Pacific Air Forces Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) is a Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force and is also the air component command of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). PACAF is headquartered at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam (fo ...

. O'Shaughnessy is a command pilot with more than 3,000 hours in the F-16 Fighting Falcon, including 168 combat hours. In August 2019, O'Shaughnessy stirred up the military space community when he said at a defense conference that "Elon Musk’s SpaceX may have just 'completely changed our ability' to sense threats against America using satellite clusters in space" by the new technology demonstrated by SpaceX May launch of the initial group of

Starlink Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX, providing satellite Internet access coverage to 45 countries. It also aims for global mobile phone service after 2023. SpaceX started launching Starlink satellites in 2019. As ...

megaconstellation A satellite internet constellation is a constellation of artificial satellites providing satellite internet service. In particular, the term has come to refer to a new generation of very large constellations (sometimes referred to as a megacon ...

.Top general says SpaceX may have just changed space defense
AL.com/Huntsville, 6 August 2019, accessed 22 August 2019.

Education

*1986 Distinguished graduate, Bachelor of Science, Aeronautical Engineering, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo. *1992 Fighter Weapons Instructor Course, U.S. Air Force Fighter Weapons School, Nellis AFB, Nev. *1993 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala. *1996 Master's degree in Aeronautical Science, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Fla. *1998 Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala. *2003 Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C. *2003 Information Studies Concentration Program, National Defense University, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C. *2005 NATO Senior Officer Policy Course, NATO School, Oberammergau, Germany *2007 Department of Defense Senior Managers Course in National Security, George Washington University, Washington, D.C. *2007 Air Force Enterprise Leadership Course, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill *2009 Combined Air and Space Operations Senior Staff Course, Hurlburt Field, Fla. *2011 Joint Force Air Component Commander Course, Maxwell AFB, Ala. *2012 Joint Flag Officer Warfighter Course *2013 Joint Force Maritime Component Commander Course, Newport, Rhode Island. *2015 National Defense University PINNACLE Course, Suffolk, Va.

Assignments

1. June 1986 – September 1987, student, undergraduate pilot training, Sheppard AFB, Texas
2. September 1987 – August 1988, student, T-38 lead-in fighter training and F-16 training, Holloman AFB, N.M., and Luke AFB, Ariz.
3. August 1988 – December 1991, F-16 aircraft commander and instructor pilot, Shaw AFB, S.C.
4. January 1992 – June 1992, student, F-16 Fighter Weapons School, Nellis AFB, Nev.
5. July 1992 – July 1993, weapons officer and flight commander, 35th Fighter Squadron, Kunsan AB, South Korea
6. July 1993 – July 1997, assistant operations officer and air-to-ground flight commander, F-16 Division, U.S. Air Force Fighter Weapons School, Nellis AFB, Nev.
7. July 1997 – June 1998, student, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
8. June 1998 – June 1999, Chief, Air Superiority Weapons Branch, Global Power Programs, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
9. June 1999 – June 2000, Chief, Fighter Programs, Office of Legislative Liaison, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
10. June 2000 – April 2001, operations officer, 555th Fighter Squadron, Aviano AB, Italy
11. April 2001 – July 2002, Commander, 510th Fighter Squadron, Aviano AB, Italy
12. August 2002 – June 2003, student, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.
13. June 2003 – August 2004, Chief, Joint Plans and Operations, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, Mons, Belgium
14. August 2004 – July 2005, senior special assistant to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe and Commander, U.S. European Command, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, Mons, Belgium
15. July 2005 – December 2006, Commander, 57th Adversary Tactics Group, Nellis AFB, Nev.
16. January 2007 – August 2008, Commander, 35th Fighter Wing, Misawa AB, Japan
17. September 2008 – August 2009, Commander, 613th Air and Space Operations Center, Hickam AFB, Hawaii
18. August 2009 – July 2010, Vice Commander, 13th Air Force, Hickam AFB, Hawaii
19. July 2010 – April 2012, Commander, 57th Wing, Nellis AFB, Nev.
20. April 2012 – August 2013, Deputy Director for Politico-Military Affairs for Asia, Joint Staff, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
21. August 2013 – October 2014 – Director for Operations, Headquarters, United States Pacific Command, Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii
22. December 2014 – July 2016, Deputy Commander, United Nations Command Korea; Deputy Commander, U.S. Forces Korea; Commander, Air Component Command, Republic of Korea/U.S. Combined Forces Command; and Commander, 7th Air Force, Pacific Air Forces, Osan AB, South Korea
23. July 2016 – May 2018, Commander, Pacific Air Forces; Air Component Commander for U.S. Pacific Command; and Executive Director, Pacific Air Combat Operations Staff, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii
24. May 2018 – August 2020, Commander, USNORTHCOM; Commander, NORAD

Flight information

*Rating: Command Pilot *Flight hours: more than 3,000 *Aircraft flown: F-16, AT/T-38 and T-37

Awards and decorations

Effective dates of promotion

References

External links

What is the United States’ Worse-Case Scenario?
April 1, 2020

Amanpour & Company ''Amanpour & Company'' is a late-night global-affairs interview television program hosted by Christiane Amanpour. The hour-long show premiered on PBS on September 10, 2018, as an expanded version of the CNN International show ''Amanpour'', augm ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:OShaughnessy, Terrence J. 1964 births Living people Canadian emigrants to the United States People from North Bay, Ontario Recipients of the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal Recipients of the Legion of Merit Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun United States Air Force generals United States Air Force personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)