SPARKS, Nev.,
March 11, 2019 – Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) is proud to announce that U.S. Air Force Colonel (ret.) John Wagner has joined its Crystal City, Virginia office, bolstering its team with Wagner’s expertise in global space operations and nearly 30 years of military service. Wagner serves as the company’s Vice President, National Security and Space.
“We are delighted to welcome John and his decades of service and leadership in national security space to our team,” said Fatih Ozmen, CEO and owner of Sierra Nevada Corporation. Ozmen serves on the National Space Council’s Users Advisory Group, appointed by Vice President Mike Pence along with leaders of the nation’s most innovative and influential space companies.
Wagner joins SNC, a privately owned aerospace and national security company, at a time of significant activity in the U.S. aerospace industry. SNC is perhaps best known for its Dream Chaser® spacecraft – known as “America’s spaceplane” – which will service the International Space Station under NASA contract starting in late 2020. With more than 25 years of experience and innovation in space, including satellites, rocket engines and more, SNC’s technology and equipment has been integral to over 450 successful missions to space including 13 missions to Mars. SNC is also under NASA contract to develop a concept for a Lunar Gateway, an orbiting laboratory and optional habitat designed to allow for access to the moon and exploration of deep space.
Prior to joining SNC in 2018, John served in the U.S. Air Force for 27 years and held leadership positions in space operations and engineering in areas of global space operations, space launch and spacecraft integration, spacecraft mission operations, global and theater missile warning, space control, space surveillance and military space battle management command & control. He commanded at the squadron, group, and wing levels, to include serving as the Installation Commander at Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado and Director of the Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Further, Wagner was involved in creating and building the Schriever Wargame Series, which has since become a key to the exploration of future space issues throughout the national security community.
About SNC
SNC is a trusted global leader in aerospace and national security. Our innovative solutions enable connected protection through command, control and communications systems, as well as ISR, cyber, electromagnetic spectrum management, and other high capabilities for national security systems across all domains – sea, land, air, space and cyber. As a longstanding leader in defense technology, SNC is at the optimum intersection of commercial, defense and non-traditional contractors. We are one of the only privately owned mid-tier A&D contractors and we pride ourselves on our ability to invest early and often to ensure mission success on or ahead of schedule. It's part of our mission to always stay one step ahead; working on solutions today to solve the problems of tomorrow. Founded in 1963, SNC is owned by Chairwoman Eren Ozmen and CEO Fatih Ozmen.