Mike is the SpaceX Director of Recovery Operations, which includes recovery of Falcon boosters fairings on East and West Coasts, Dragon capsules, astronauts and payloads, Starship post-launch operations, and our offshore vessels and marine operations. Mike previously worked as the SpaceX Falcon and Dragon Production Principal Operations Engineer, and as a project manager for the Government Satellite (StarShield) program. Mike is a retired Army Special Operations Colonel with 25 years of experience in Special Operations, counterterrorism, and counterproliferation who commanded Special Operations Task Forces operating throughout the Middle East and Central Asia. During his career, Mike led multinational and interagency task forces including military, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies on 17 combat tours. Mike also served as Chief of Current Operations for Joint Special Operations Command, Director of Research and Development for a Special Operations Unit, and as Commander of Selection and Training for a Special Operations Unit. Mike is a Board Member for a Special Operations non-profit that supports current and former SOF soliders.
Mike has a PhD in Nuclear Engineering from MIT, Master’s from Stanford Graduate School for Business (GSB), Master’s in National Security and Strategic Studies from the US Naval War College, a MicroMasters in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, and a BS in Engineering from UC Santa Barbara.