Colonel Mark C. Bigley is the Commander of Space Delta 9, headquartered at Schriever SFB, Colorado. As the Commander, he oversees assigned and attached forces conducting protect and defend operations for the U.S. Space Force. Delta 9’s missions include preparing, presenting, and projecting these forces to provide national decision authorities with response options to deter, and when necessary, defeat orbital threats. Additionally, Delta 9 supports Space Domain Awareness by conducting battlespace characterization operations and on-orbit experimentation and technology demonstrations.
Colonel Bigley earned his commission in 2002 through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Previously he has held various assignments in the Space and Missile Operations career field. He began in Minuteman III ICBM Operations at Minot AFB, Minot, North Dakota, culminating as Minuteman Senior Evaluator for the 91st Operations Group and Wing Executive Officer for the 91st Missile Wing. Colonel Bigley completed the United States Air Force Weapons School in 2008 as a Distinguished Graduate and proceeded to Eleventh Air Force at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Anchorage, Alaska where he would support combined operations for USPACOM, USNORTHCOM, Alaskan Command, and NORAD. After serving two years as the Integration Flight Commander for the 611th Air and Space Operations Center, Colonel Bigley completed a one-year remote assignment to Southwest Asia. During this period, he served in the 609th Air and Space Operations Center as the Chief of the Combat Operations Division Space Cell where he led 19 operators across multiple mission areas including Missile Warning and Space Control. Colonel Bigley is a Joint Qualified Officer with assignments at the Joint Staff in the Deputy Directorate for Command, Control, Communications, and Computers/Cyber. Additionally, he served as the Commander of the 1st Space Operations Squadron and attended the Naval War College. Prior to assuming command of Space Delta 9, Colonel Bigley served as the Director of Component Plans and Readiness at Headquarters, Space Operations Command.
EDUCATION
2002 Bachelor of Science Biochemistry, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
2003 Air and Space Basic Course, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
2007 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2011 Master of Science Space Studies, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks
2012 Air Command and Staff College by Correspondence
2014 United States Air Force Strategic Policy Fellow
2017 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Service Chief Fellow
2020 Master of Arts in National Security Studies, Naval War College, Newport, R.I.
ASSIGNMENTS
1. June 2002 - February 2003, Student, Undergraduate Space/Missile Training and Initial Qualification Training Minuteman III ICBM, 381st Training Group, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
2. March 2003 - October 2004, Deputy Missile Combat Crew Commander, Squadron Command Post, 741st Missile Squadron, Minot AFB, N.D.
3. October 2004 - August 2005, Standardization and Evaluation Deputy Crew Commander, 91st Operations Group, Minot AFB, N.D.
4. August 2005 - September 2006, Flight Commander, Missile Combat Crew Commander, Squadron Command Post, 741st Missile Squadron, Minot AFB, N.D.
5. September 2006 - February 2007, Senior Evaluator, Missile Combat Crew Commander, Minuteman III ICBM, 91st Operations Group, Minot AFB, N.D.
6. February 2007 - January 2008, Executive Officer, 91st Missile Wing, Minot AFB, N.D.
7. January 2008 - June 2008, Student, U.S. Air Force Weapons School, Nellis AFB, Nev.
8. August 2008 – September 2010, Integration Flight Commander, 611th Air and Space Operations Center, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska
9. September 2010 - September 2011, Chief, Combat Operations Division Space Cell, 609th Air and Space Operations Center, Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar
10. October 2011 - June 2012, Chief, 50th Space Wing Weapons and Tactics, Schriever AFB, Colo.
11. June 2012 - May 2013, Flight Commander, 50th Space Wing Weapons and Tactics, Schriever AFB, Colo.
12. May 2013 – June 2014, Operations Officer, 50th Operations Support Squadron, Schriever AFB, Colo.
13. June 2014 – June 2015, Student, USAF Strategic Policy Fellowship, Washington, D.C.
14. June 2015 – July 2017, Lead positioning, navigation and timing Action Officer, Joint Staff J-6, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
15. July 2017 – July 2019, Commander, 1st Space Operations Squadron, Schriever AFB, Colo.
16. July 2019 – July 2020, Student, U.S. Naval War College, Newport, R.I.
17. July 2020 – June 2021, Chief, Space Enterprise Capabilities Division, HQ Space Operations Command, Colorado Springs, Colo..
18. June 2021 – June 2022, Director, Component Plans and Readiness, HQ Space Operations Command, Colorado Springs, Colo.
19. June 2022 – present, Commander, Space Delta 9, Schriever Space Force Base, Colorado Springs, Colo.
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters
Air Force Commendation Medal
Air Force Overseas Ribbon Short
Air Force Overseas Ribbon Long
Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon with Gold Border
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant 29 May 2002
First Lieutenant 29 May 2004
Captain 29 May 2006
Major 1 July 2012
Lieutenant Colonel 1 January 2016
Colonel 25 March 2021
(Current as of June 2022)