John Galer

John Galer is an active duty Air Force space operations officer with 12 years of experience leading dynamic teams in space operations, strategy, communications, and policy. He is currently serving as the Legislative Liaison for United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), where he acts as the command’s liaison to Congressional members, committees and OSD, CJCS and Service legislative offices. Most recently, John served as the Defense Legislative Fellow to U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly (IN), acting as an advisor to the Senator on defense, foreign affairs, and veteran affairs-related legislative areas. In his career, he has served as a communication and ISR satellite operations warfighter and integrator at the tactical level and a trusted advisor and strategic communicator for chief executives in the Department of Defense, Intelligence Community, and U.S. Congress.

John is also the co-founder of NSS Next, an intellectual incubator developing the next generation of National Security Space leaders ensuring US space superiority. He has a keen interest in the culture and talent management of the National Security Space enterprise.

John graduated with a Bachelor's of Science in Journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Master's in Business Administration from Florida State University. He also completed the Georgetown University Government Affairs Institute’s Graduate Certificate in Legislative Studies. John is originally from Hillsboro, IL and resides in Alexandria, VA with his wife, Emily, and dog, Chief.