Lieutenant Colonel Marouane Balmakhtar is the Cyber Warfare Branch Chief for the Cyber and Spectrum Warfare Division for the Chief of Operations, Headquarters Space Force at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. In this role, he integrates cyber operations into Service-level strategies, doctrine, concepts, and emerging capabilities. Furthermore, he manages the Service’s relationship with United States Cyber Command and force presentation to the joint community, including overseeing the establishment of a Service Cyberspace Component, and integrates cyberspace operations into the Service’s other existing and emerging component commands.
After a lengthy civilian career in both industry and academia, Lieutenant Colonel Balmakhtar received his direct commission from the Space Force. In his previous experience, he worked in different roles as a principal technologist, associate professor, served on multiple director boards, director of technology, senior technology strategist, and senior systems engineer. He is a senior IEEE and holds over 100 U.S. technology/security patents.