Nuclear weapons leader selected for first star

  • Published
  • By Leah Bryant, AFNWC Public Affairs
  • Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center
HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah --  An Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center colonel has been nominated for the rank of brigadier general.
 
The President nominated Col. Jason Bartolomei for the promotion, which is pending Senate confirmation.
 
Since May 2020, Bartolomei has been the director of the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent Systems Directorate at Hill AFB, Utah.
 
The Air Force is replacing the aging Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with the GBSD ICBM. The GBSD ICBM represents the modernization of the land-based leg of the U.S. nuclear triad and will provide the nation’s most responsive global strategic deterrent and global strike capabilities.
 
Bartolomei is responsible for a more than $100-billion weapon system focused on the development, deployment and sustainment of the next-generation ICBM system.
 
“I am thrilled that the Air Force has nominated Jason for this promotion in recognition of his ability to serve in the higher grade with greater responsibilities,” said Maj. Gen. Anthony Genatempo, AFNWC commander. “For several years now, he has kept the GBSD program on track for time-certain delivery, while working with more than 16 mission partners, as well as 50 government agencies.”
 
During his career, Bartolomei has held a variety of senior acquisition positions supporting the Air Force's tankers, airlift, special operations, and trainer fleets. He also served as a program element monitor for the KC-46A tanker aircraft, a systems engineer in the F-22 system program office, and an assistant professor of engineering mechanics at the U.S. Air Force Academy.
 
During Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, Bartolomei served at the Joint Warfare Analysis Center, where he led the counter-terrorism support team for counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations.
 
In addition, he had assignments at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency as a Service Chiefs Fellow, in the U.S. Senate as a military legislative fellow for Sen. Orrin Hatch, and at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory as a Chief of Staff of the Air Force Fellow.
 
A native of San Antonio, Texas, he entered the Air Force in 1997 from the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
 
He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Marquette University, a master’s degree in systems engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in strategic studies from the Marine Corps War College, a master’s certificate in legislative studies from Georgetown University, and a doctoral degree in engineering systems from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.