Robert M. Hessin
Deputy Director
National Coordination Office for Space-Based PNT
Col Robert M. Hessin is the Deputy Director of the National Coordination Office for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing.
A native of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Col Hessin was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force following graduation from the University of Oklahoma in 1987.
Upon entry on active duty in 1988, he spent his first four years on Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) alert duty in Minot, ND, serving the Standardization/Evaluation Division as both a missile combat crew deputy commander and commander.
After a brief stint in the Command and Control career field flight following AWACS aircraft at Tinker AFB, he relocated to Colorado Springs, CO, where he re-established himself in the space and missile operations community. He trained as a Global Positioning System (GPS) space vehicle engineer and led his Navigation Analysis Flight through revolutionary changes, facilitating improvements in precision guided weapons accuracy of over 20%, demonstrated during Operations DESERT STRIKE and DESERT THUNDER.
In 1998, he was selected to the Air Staff to work Space-based Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Navigation requirements. He personally crafted the President’s Decision Directive terminating the U.S. Government’s intentional civilian degradation and laying the foundation for decades of precise worldwide civil GPS use.
Col Hessin moved back to Colorado Springs in 2001 to lead the Space and Missile System Center’s Combined Test Force for Space, merging low cost test concepts with cutting edge technology and resources to create Air Force Space Command’s first-ever test bed for satellite operations. His talented team’s accomplishments help garner him the National Defense Industrial Association’s Military Tester of the Year Award for 2002.
In 2004, he took over the Operations Branch for Air Force Space Command’s Inspector General Team, leading a 13-person team through ten space and ICBM unit compliance and nuclear surety inspections. In 2006, Col Hessin was selected to lead the Operations Branch for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s On-site Inspection Directorate.
He assumed his current duty in June 2009. For his first six months, he also served as Acting Director of the National Coordination Office.
Col Hessin is married to the former Annette Beck of Lawton, OK. He has two children: Hannah and Matthew.