Brig. Gen. Pepper enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1989 and received his commission through the Officer Training School in 1996. He is a career space and missile operations officer and has commanded the Air Force Element Operations Squadron at Royal Air Force Menwith Hill, United Kingdom; Deputy Commander and Commander, 21st Operations Group; the 460th Space Wing; and the Buckley Garrison.
He served in the Pentagon as an Air Force Strategic Policy Intern in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Equal Opportunity, and Office of the Deputy Secretary of Defense. He deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and is a graduate of the United States Air Force Weapons School. His staff assignments include United States Space Command, United States Strategic Command, Headquarters Air Force Global Strike Command, Headquarters Air Combat Command, Headquarters Eighth Air Force, and Headquarters Seventh Air Force. Prior to his current assignment, General Pepper was the Deputy Director of the Strategy, Plans and Policy Directorate, United States Space Command, Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado.
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May 1996 – August 1996, Student, Officer Training School, Maxwell AFB, AL.
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August 1996 – April 1997, Student, Undergraduate Space and Missile Training and Initial Qualification Training, Minuteman III Rapid Execution and Combat Targeting, Vandenberg AFB, CA.
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April 1997 – February 1998, Deputy Missile Combat Crew Commander, 740 Missile Squadron, Minot AFB, ND.
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February 1998 - January 1999, Deputy Missile Combat Crew Commander Evaluator, 91st Operations Group, Minot AFB, ND.
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February 1999 – November 1999, Missile Combat Crew Commander, 740th Missile Squadron, Minot AFB, ND.
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November 1999 – July 2001, Missile Combat Crew Commander Instructor, Section Chief and Senior Crew Operations Instructor, 91st Operations Support Squadron, Minot AFB, ND.
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August 2001 – June 2002, Executive Officer to the Wing Commander, 91st Space Wing, Minot AFB, ND.
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June 2002 – June 2003, Air Force Strategic Policy Intern with duties in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Equal Opportunity; and Office of the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
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January 2004 – February 2005, Chief, Offensive Counter-Information, 7th Information Warfare Flight, Osan AB, Republic of Korea.
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February 2005 – September 2007, Program Manager, Advanced Strike Requirements Branch, Advanced Programs Division, Directorate of Requirements, Air Combat Command, Langley AFB, VA (Deployed March – July 2007, Space Weapons Officer, G-3 Fires and Effects Coordination Cell, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), Camp Fallujah, Iraq).
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September 2007 – August 2009, Executive Officer to the Commander, Eighth Air Force, Barksdale AFB, LA.
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September 2009 – June 2011, Deputy Chief, later Chief, Weapons, Tactics and Electronic Warfare Branch, Air Force Global Strike Command, Barksdale AFB, LA.
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June 2011 – June 2013, Commander, Air Force Element Operations Squadron, RAF Menwith Hill, England.
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June 2013 – July 2014, Deputy Commander, 21st Operations Group, 21st Space Wing, Peterson AFB, CO.
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August 2014 – June 2015, Student, National War College, National Defense University, Ft. McNair, Washington D.C.
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July 2015 – June 2016, Chief, Global Intelligence Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Future Capabilities Branch (J841), U.S. Strategic Command, Offutt AFB, NE.
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June 2016 – May 2017, Chief, Space and Missile Defense Division (J31), Headquarters United States Strategic Command, Offutt AFB, NE.
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May 2017 – May 2019, Commander, 21st Operations Group, 21st Space Wing, Peterson AFB, CO.
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May 2019 – July 2020, Commander, 460th Space Wing, Buckley AFB, CO.
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July 2020 – January 2021, Commander, Buckley Garrison, Buckley AFB, CO.
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January 2021 – April 2021, performing the duties of the Deputy Director of the Strategy, Plans and Policy Directorate (DJ5), Headquarters United States Space Command, Peterson AFB, CO.
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April 2021 – October 2022, Deputy Director of the Strategy, Plans and Policy Directorate (DJ5), Headquarters United States Space Command, Peterson SFB, CO.
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October 2022 – Present, Deputy Commanding General-Operations, Headquarters Space Operations Command, Peterson SFB, CO.