Colonel Carl Bottolfson serves as the Director of the Force Modernization & Design Directorate at Headquarters US Space Force in Washington, DC. In his present position, he is responsible for integrating the US Space Force into Joint and Department of the Air Force future warfighting concepts and wargames, assessing the military utility of emerging technologies, and conducting future force design and capability development planning to enhance Joint Force lethality, assured space access, and space superiority.
Colonel Bottolfson received his commission through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology. Colonel Bottolfson’s initial operational assignment was to Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota and the 91st Missile Wing where he served as an ICBM Combat Crew Commander and Chief, Wing Emergency War Orders Plans. In 2007, he reported to Vandenberg Air Force Base, California and the 1st Space Control Squadron and the Joint Space Operations Center as a Space Operations Mission Commander and Chief, Space Situational Awareness Operations Branch. During that assignment, Colonel Bottolfson earned his Masters in Business Administration from Trident University International.
Prior to his present duties, Colonel Bottolfson served in the Plans and Policy Directorates at United States Strategic Command and Headquarters Air Force; Commander, 12th Space Warning Squadron; Deputy Commander, 21st Operations Group; and graduated from the US Air Force’s Air War College in Montgomery, Alabama earning a Masters of Strategic Studies in 2021.