COL. John E. Dukes

Colonel John E. Dukes Jr. is currently assigned to the Pentagon under the Secretary of the Air Force Space Acquisitions and Integration Directorate (SAF/SQ) as the Deputy Director of the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Coordination Office. Colonel Dukes leads a multidisciplinary office tasked to oversee U.S. Space-Based PNT Policy. 

The National Coordination Office shall collect from Executive Committee member Departments and Agencies the appropriate information necessary to ensure interagency transparency about PNT policies, programs, budgets, and activities that might affect mutual interests or interagency dependencies. The National Coordination Office will use this information for operations of the Executive Committee to include interagency coordination, consensus development, and issue resolution for all matters presented to the Executive Committee. Additionally, Col Dukes is tasked with conducting or overseeing space-based PNT studies, analyses, and projects with a National benefit beyond the scope of a single Department or Agency, to include an assessment of ongoing Department and Agency efforts that may benefit from broader U.S. Government participation. 

Colonel Dukes received his commission as a distinguished graduate of the ROTC program at the University of Alabama in 1997. He has held command positions as a maintenance flight commander, logistics flight commander, and as a maintenance squadron commander. Additionally, he has held a variety of acquisition, aircraft maintenance, and multiple program office positions, including deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, and U.S. Central Command where he served as the information operations branch chief. Colonel Dukes transferred from the United States Air Force to the United States Space Force on 25 June 2021. 

Prior to his current role as NCO Deputy Director, he served as Director of Staff at Space Systems Command and Senior Materiel Leader and Chief for the Production Corps’ Geosynchronous (GEO)/Polar Division.