Colonel Michael S. Hesse is a military instructor on faculty at the Eisenhower School of National Security and Resource Strategy, National Defense University, Washington, DC. He leverages deep experience with both operations and acquisitions to teach courses in Leadership, Acquisition and Innovation, and Industry Studies. He holds a Master of Science in Strategic Intelligence from the National Defense Intelligence College and a Master of Arts in Security Policy Studies from George Washington University. In his previous assignment, he was Director, Combat Operations at the 609th Air and Space Operations Center, Al Udeid, Qatar.
Colonel Hesse was commissioned through Officer Training School in 1997. He is a Senior Air Battle Manager with more than 1,700 hours in the E-3A Sentry and E-8C JSTARS. His air battle management assignments have included the 12th Airborne Command and Control Squadron and 93rd Training Squadron, Robins AFB, Georgia; 623rd Air Control Flight, Kadena AB, Japan; 605 TES, Det 2, Melbourne, Florida; and Squadron 3, Geilenkirchen, Germany. Colonel Hesse’s operational experience includes ALLIED FORCE, NOBLE EAGLE, INHERENT RESOLVE and RESOLUTE SUPPORT. He has served as chief of standards and evaluations and twice as director of operations. He is a distinguished graduate of MCE and E-3A MDS training. In 2010 he earned a Master of Science in Strategic Intelligence from the National Defense Intelligence College (NDIC) and graduated the Joint Forces Staff College in 2012. After NDIC, he was a staff officer at USNORTHCOM, Peterson AFB, Colorado where he served as a NORAD-USNORTHCOM Command Center Air Domain Chief, Chief of the Operations Support Branch and Executive Officer to the Director of Operations. He then served as Director of Operations and then Commander of the 605th Test and Evaluation Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Florida. Following command he was posted to Headquarters Air Force Test and Evaluation and from there was assigned as Director, Combat Operations at the 609th Air and Space Operations Center.