Douglas Schiess

Douglas Andrew Schiess (born February 5, 1970) is a United States Space Force lieutenant general who serves as the commander of United States Space Forces – Space and combined joint force space component commander of the United States Space Command. He previously served as the commander of Combined Force Space Component Command and vice commander of Space Operations Command.

Schiess entered the United States Air Force in 1992 after graduating from the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He is a career missile and space operations officer, initially working in ICBM squadrons before transitioning to space launch, GPS and military satellite communication assignments. He has commanded the 4th Space Operations Squadron, the 45th Operations Group, the 21st Space Wing, and the 45th Space Wing in the Air Force. He also deployed to Qatar in support of the war in Afghanistan.

In 2022, Schiess transferred to the Space Force. In 2023, he was promoted to lieutenant general and became the inaugural commander of United States Space Forces – Space.

Early life and education
Douglas Andrew Schiess was born on February 5, 1970, in Yucaipa, California. He had a great uncle who served in the Army during World War II. His dad served in the United States Air Force at the end of the Vietnam War. In 1988, he graduated from Yucaipa High School.

Schiess entered the Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) as a way to pay for college. He entered the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He immersed himself in his detachment, "learned how the military operates, that [he] found out this [was] something [he] really want to be about." In 1992, he graduated with a B.S. degree in physics.

In 1996, Schiess received an M.S. in human resources management from the Central Michigan University. He also received an M.A. in organizational management in 2000 from the George Washington University. In 2004, he completed an M.S. in space systems from the Air Force Institute of Technology. He also earned an M.A. in national security strategy from the National War College in 2012. He also attended Squadron Officer School, Air Command and Staff College by correspondence, and Air War College by correspondence as part of his professional military education.

Schiess also attend several courses and seminars from the Advanced Space Operations School, Alan L. Freed Associates, UNC Kenan–Flagler Business School, National Defense University, Harvard Kennedy School, Air University, and Army War College.

Military career
Schiess was commissioned into the United States Air Force on June 27, 1992. From January to April 2023, he underwent undergraduate missile training at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. After completing his initial training, he was assigned to the 446th Missile Squadron at Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota, from 1993 to 1995 as an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) crew commander, deputy flight commander, instructor, and ICBM deputy crew commander. From 1995 to 1997, he served as senior evaluator and ICBM crew commander evaluator for the 321st Missile Group's Standardization and Evaluation Division.

From 1997 to 1998, Schiess went back to Vandenberg to serve as chief of training, launch crew commander, and launch controller for the 2nd Space Launch Squadron. He was then assigned to the Pentagon from 1998 to 2000 as an Air Force intern. He was assigned at the Personnel Force Management Directorate of the Office of the Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel and the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Programs).

After his Pentagon tour, Schiess was reassigned to Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado. From 2000 to 2001, he served with the 2nd Space Operations Squadron (2 SOPS) as a Global Positioning System (GPS) crew commander and satellite vehicle operator. He then served as executive officer to the wing commander at the 50th Space Wing for a year after that. From 2002 to 2003, he was reassigned to the Air Force Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, as the command lead for space professional development with the vice commander's action group.

In 2004, after a year of studying at the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, Schiess was reassigned again at the Pentagon for three years. His first assignment there was as chief of the Military Satellite Communications Operations Branch at the Space Operations Division, Directorate of Strategic Security of the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations. From 2005 to 2007, he was assigned at the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force's Legislative Liaison as chief of space and missile programs at the Weapons Systems Division.

From 2007 to 2011, Shiess was stationed at Schriever. First, he was reassigned again with 2 SOPS, now as the squadron's operations officer. After that, he served as commander of the 4th Space Operations Squadron from 2009 to 2011, in charge of military communication satellites. For a year after that, he studied at the National War College in Washington, D.C.

Schiess was then assigned to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, to serve as commander of the 45th Operations Group from 2012 to 2014. After that, he was deployed to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar as the director of space forces of the U.S. Air Forces Central Command in support of the war in Afghanistan. From 2015 to 2017, he had another commander tour at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, with the 21st Space Wing.

From 2017 to 2018, Schiess served as senior military assistant to the under secretary of the Air Force at the Pentagon, Matthew Donovan. After that assignment, he was promoted to brigadier general. On August 23, 2018, he took command of the 45th Space Wing from Brigadier General Wayne Monteith, in charge of the Eastern Range and space launch operations from the East Coast. In December 2020, he relinquished command of the 45th Space Wing to Brigadier General Stephen G. Purdy and moved to Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, as deputy commanding general for operations of the newly established Space Operations Command (SpOC).

In July 2021, Schiess was nominated for transfer to the United States Space Force and promotion to major general. Confirmed on April 28, 2022, he transferred from the Air Force to the Space Force on the same day. He was also promoted to major general, but his official promotion date was backdated to May 7, 2021.

In August 2022, Schiess moved back to Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, to take command of the Combined Force Space Component Command (CFSCC) from Major General DeAnna Burt. In addition to his role as CFSCC commander, he also served as vice commander of SpOC.

In October 2023, Schiess was nominated for promotion to lieutenant general and assignment as commander of the United States Space Forces – Space (S4S) and combined joint force space component commander for the United States Space Command. On December 6, 2023, after his confirmation to his new rank and position, CFSCC was inactivated. He was promoted to lieutenant general and became the inaugural commander of S4S.

Personal life
Schiess is married to Debbie Schiess, whom he met in 5th grade and they started dating in high school. They married halfway through college.

Awards and decorations
Schiess is the recipient of the following awards:
 * 1992 Distinguished Graduate, Reserve Officer Training Corps
 * 1993 Distinguished Graduate, Undergraduate Missile Training
 * 1997 Outstanding Contributor, Squadron Officer School
 * 2000 Distinguished Graduate, GPS Initial Qualification Training
 * 2007 John J. Welch Air Force Award for Excellence in Acquisition Leadership
 * 2009 Academic Achievement Award, Milstar Initial Qualification Training
 * 2017 Air Force Space Command General and Mrs. Jerome F. O'Malley Award
 * 2023 Statecraft Fellow, The Mentor Group