Lt. Col. Jim Tobin ’96

Prep alums fill the ranks of all branches of our armed services, including the newest branch, the Space Force. Lieutenant Colonel Jim Tobin ’96 currently serves as the Chief of the Capability Development Division for the Chief Partnership Office of the United States Space Force. His journey to get to this position has taken him all over the world.

 

Tobin, a native of Cherry Hill and the youngest of six, was the only member of his family to attend the Prep. After his four years at 17th and Girard, he moved on to Hawk Hill, where he earned a degree in finance from St. Joseph’s University. While a student there, Tobin was a member of the Air Force ROTC program which would kick off his now 21-year journey with the armed services.

 

Upon graduation from college, Tobin was commissioned to Hanscom Air Force Base outside of Boston, where he worked in acquisitions and capabilities for the Air Force for three years before moving to Houston and working with NASA.

 

“We performed training for astronauts out of the DOD (Department of Defense) payloads office,” Tobin says. “We manifested new payloads on NASA missions, helped launch payloads on behalf of the DOD, and then trained astronauts on how to use and do the missions. We would be stationed on console in the control centers during the missions to ensure the experiments were performed as expected.”

 

While in Houston, Tobin earned his MBA, the first of two graduate degrees. “Going to the Prep taught me the value of education and continuing that education,” Tobin says. “I took a lot of the study habits I learned at the Prep to be able to work full time and pursue a Master’s degree.”

 

Over the next decade, Tobin bounced all over the globe. He spent time in Washington, D.C. working in intel, then he spent time off and on in Afghanistan where he joined the Afghan/Pakistan Hands Program. Through this program, Tobin learned the language and history of Afghanistan and its people to help him better understand this area of the world and help the people there. 

 

“Think of us like consultants who visit and try to tell you how to improve things in your life and work,” Tobin says. “It wouldn’t be effective if you knew nothing of the culture, history, and way of life, so this program spoke the language and we worked there every day. We served as liaisons between our two cultures (Afghan and US/NATO) to better work together. Without the ability to bridge these very different cultures, attempts to make lasting change prove difficult.”

 

“It was a good, healthy mix of trying to identify solid, sustainable solutions that the Afghan people would buy into,” says Tobin. “We were coming up with 40% of a solution and letting them finish the other 60%; building long lasting sustainable things.”

 

From there, Tobin continued his international journey, spending three years in Canberra, Australia. Finally, in 2019, he returned to the United States, where he spent about 9 months in Public Affairs (as part of a goal to broaden his career) before moving over to the Space Force in its International Affairs Division.

 

“We’ve been fielding space systems for over 70 years, and we want to create future systems that our partners and allies can use,” says Tobin of his work. “We are our own separate service, so we need to field systems that coexist nicely into all the service sectors (Air Force, Navy, Army, etc.).”

 

According to Tobin, most of his job involves talking and meeting with international partners about what the United States has planned and what our allies have planned. 

 

“They have their own strategies, but we’re still the United States, and they want to be able to partner with us and follow our lead,” he says.

 

Despite Jim’s career taking him to the far reaches of the globe, he still feels strong ties to the Prep. He fondly remembers great teachers like Mr. Tom Fitzpatrick, Rev. Vince Taggart, SJ, Mr. Jim O’Brien ’62, and Ms. Kate Mannion-Jones. But, his main takeaway from his Prep education is a phrase we are all familiar with: men for and with others.

 

“I have since been part of groups like the Knights of Columbus. They have a Food for Others campaign that we’ve been very active in. I bring my kids and we help give out food to those in need. It teaches them empathy; it teaches them to value the gifts they have.” Jim says. “A big part of being in the military is always looking out for each other. You need your brothers and sisters in the best and worst times. The Prep instilled that in me greatly. Even in life in general, this is the most important lesson I learned.”