Learning to Pivot

For Jessica Thompson MBA’21, MS’21, her journey to the United States Space Force has been filled with detours, but her ability to successfully pivot as she navigates life has made all the difference.

Raised in the small town of Bogata, Texas, Thompson earned academic scholarships to attend Texas A&M University, where she planned to study nuclear engineering. But school didn’t go well for Thompson – at least at first.

“At the time, I was just struggling with life and my grades weren’t very good, so I quit,” Thompson said.

She moved to San Antonio, where she worked in food and beverage service for a Hilton Hotel, eventually working her way into management. But Thompson had always wanted to serve in the military. In 2014, she decided the time was right when she joined the U.S. Air Force.

I’ve always said I wanted my life to have meaning, and for me that meant serving. That’s why I joined the Air Force.

Jessica Thompson MBA’21, MS’21

The Air Force requires new recruits to test for an aptitude for learning foreign languages, and Thompson, who had hoped to work in computer programing, did well, easily passing. She was sent to the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey, California, where she graduated after learning the Farsi and Dari languages spoken in parts of the Middle East, including in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan.

“As a linguist, I flew on Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft where I used signals intelligence and my language skills to support our troops on the ground during strategic missions,” she said.

Thompson was based at Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar, flying missions over Iraq and Afghanistan. She also served in an intelligence role while stationed at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska, serving in the Air Force for five years. She left active duty in 2019, becoming an Air Force reservist.

While on active duty, Thompson completed a bachelor’s degree remotely through Arizona State University. Now as a civilian, Thompson decided she was ready to return to college.  After meeting staff at The University of Texas at Dallas Military and Veteran Center (MVC) who provided her with post-military support and resources, she applied to UTD.

“The staff at the MVC, and their (former) director, Lisa Adams, were just so supportive,” Thompson said. “They are so good at helping veterans who are transitioning out of the military and trying to come up with a plan for the next phase of their lives.”

“I really enjoyed getting to know Jessica and watching her navigate all her career options,” said Adams, a veteran who led the center for nine years and is now an education program specialist for NASA. “She was a leader among her peers and that leadership was marked by authenticity and maturity.”

While working with Adams at the MVC, Thompson also met staff at the full-time Master of Business Administration program in the Naveen Jindal School of Management. Noting how highly rated the UTD MBA program was and the degree’s versatility, she set aside plans to attend medical school and started the full-time MBA program in 2019.

While working on her MBA and a second master’s degree, Thompson volunteered as president of the MVC’s Student Veterans Association and as a peer advisor to other student veterans at UTD.

“Jessica was enthusiastic about participating in MVC programs,” Adams said. “Her efforts contributed to the center’s goals to foster community among military-affiliated students and connect them to resources.”

While working on her MBA, she landed a summer internship in information technology at Lockheed Martin, further focusing her plans.

“I absolutely loved the IT internship,” she said. “I loved the fast pace, the new concepts and the teamwork. It just felt like a perfect fit for me.”

So much so that when Thompson returned to campus that fall, she started her master’s degree in IT management at the Jindal School and added a graduate certificate in cybersecurity systems, all of which, along with the MBA, she completed in two years. In 2020, Thompson was named the school’s graduate student of the year.

“It was definitely a whirlwind time, and it was just so cool that UT Dallas had an avenue to accomplish all of that,” she said.

After graduating in 2021, Thompson accepted an analyst position in Bank of America’s Women’s Cyber Rotational Program, later working as an incident response management specialist. But her career wasn’t set in stone yet.

In 2022, Thompson saw a LinkedIn post from the recently established U.S. Space Force encouraging professionals to apply for a direct commission as a Space Force officer.

“I really didn’t know what to expect but I threw in my resume on LinkedIn,” Thompson said. “I thought maybe they’d pick me with my years in the service and my school experience and work in the cybersecurity field.”

The Space Force did choose Thompson, offering her the branch’s first direct commission, allowing her to join as a first lieutenant. She was assigned to the branch’s headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado, as a cybersecurity officer and a flight commander.

Recently promoted to captain, Thompson oversees four Space Force offices with more than 50 personnel reporting to her. Her team focuses on standing up cyber operations to support the country’s new military space mission, established by an act of Congress in 2019 with the creation of the Space Force.

“I’m taking my industry skills and my education and looking at how we make our cyber-defenses operate similarly to other branches of the service and to industry security operations centers,” Thompson said. “As an officer in the military, you are expected to manage your units while helping inform strategy as well as understand the technical side of the operations that the people you lead are involved in.”

Thompson said her time at UT Dallas was important preparation for her leadership role in the military.

“My experience in the MBA program has helped me when confronting complex problems presented to us in the Space Force that include both resource constraints and technology limitations,” she said. “I can now take these complex problems and understand them from multiple perspectives and present solutions at a much higher level, almost like the consultants that we hire.”

Thompson said her education and work experience, along with an ability to pivot in life, have prepared her for her current role in the military and in life.

“I wasn’t planning to return to active duty, but an officer’s commission was always a dream of mine,” she said. “I just didn’t know how to make it happen or how I would fit into my life. I feel honored to be given this opportunity.”

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