For Capt. Jessica Thompson MBA’21, MS’21, the journey to the U.S. Space Force has been filled with detours, but her ability to pivot successfully has made all the difference.
Raised in 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 — at least at first.
“At the time, I was just struggling with life, and my grades weren’t very good, so I quit,” she said.
After moving to San Antonio, she worked for a Hilton hotel, eventually working her way into management. But Thompson had always wanted to serve in the military, so in 2014, 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,” she said.
Thompson showed a proficiency for learning foreign languages by passing a required aptitude test and was assigned to the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey, California, where she learned Persian languages.
“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.
In addition to flying missions over Iraq and Afghanistan and serving in an intelligence role, Thompson completed a bachelor’s degree remotely through Arizona State University. She left active duty in 2019 and was ready to return to college. After meeting with staff at The University of Texas at Dallas Military and Veteran Center (MVC), Thompson applied to UTD.
“The staff at the MVC, and their [former] director, [Dr.] 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.”
Thompson also met staff from the full-time Master of Business Administration program in the Naveen Jindal School of Management. Noting the MBA program’s reputation and the degree’s versatility, she set aside plans to pursue medical school and started in the program in 2019.
While studying at UTD, Thompson served as president of the MVC’s Student Veterans Association and as a peer advisor for other student veterans.
“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
“Jessica was enthusiastic about participating in MVC programs,” said Adams, who led the MVC for nine years and is now an education program specialist for NASA. “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, Thompson landed a summer internship in information technology at Lockheed Martin Corp.
“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.”
It was such a perfect fit that when Thompson returned to campus, she started pursuing a master’s degree in information technology and management and a graduate certificate in cybersecurity systems. 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, Thompson became an analyst in Bank of America’s Women’s Cyber Rotational Program and later worked as an incident response management specialist. In 2022, she saw a LinkedIn post from the U.S. Space Force encouraging professionals to apply for a direct commission as an 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 offered Thompson 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 military space mission.
“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,” she 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.
“I wasn’t planning to return to active duty, but an officer’s commission was always a dream of mine. I just didn’t know how to make it happen or how I would fit it into my life. I feel honored to be given this opportunity.”