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Lieutenant Colonel Caitlin Diffley
Lieutenant Colonel Caitlin Diffley
Job Title
Space Director and Director
Organization
US Space Force Innovation, at the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU)
Lt Col Caitlin B. Diffley serves as Space Director and Director, US Space Force Innovation, at the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), Moffett Field, CA. She leverages private investment, partner transition commitments, and innovation insertion increments alongside DIU funds to orchestrate an aggregated $1.25 Billion space portfolio in service of Department of War overmatch. Weaponizing statutory authorities, Lt Col Diffley compresses competition timelines to weeks, streamlines stakeholder alignment, and secures friction-free pathways to field combat-credible prototypes in 24 months for Day 0 integration and scale.
Her operations foundation, regional security depth, and trilingual capability (Russian, Chinese, Spanish) directly inform portfolio strategy: to operationalize warfighting capital to stimulate the defense industrial base across capabilities including proliferated hybrid architectures, tactically responsive space, non-kinetic effects, edge computing, and adaptive manufacturing. This strategy drives interoperable, dual-use commercial adoption throughout the space domain to achieve overmatch against pacing adversaries, directly executing 2026 National Defense Strategy mandates and Golden Dome for America priorities.
Commissioning as the 2006 Notre Dame ROTC Distinguished Graduate, Lt Col Diffley’s career spans Satellite Operations, Navigation Warfare (NAVWAR) initial cadre, 7th Air Force Aide-de-Camp, Director of Operations. She led teams to uphold US treat rights as Arms Control Inspection Division Chief and served as Adjunct Professor in the US Air Force Academy Management Department. She is a certified Foreign Area Officer, Regional Space Advisor, Instructor, and Recruiter. Previously, she led a combined international team of 36 members across 9 locations as Deputy Chief of Staff at the Combined Force Space Component Command and NATO HQ Allied Air Command.
Speaking
16September
17:05 / 17:35
Les Salons Hoche
Session
Bridging Innovation and Operations: Transforming Defense Capabilities through Space
