Wayne Eleazer spent 25 years in the US Air Force, serving as the Thor program manager, GPS integration manager, Atlas test director at Vandenberg Air Force Base, and for a time led the space launch section of the Acquisition Directorate of the Air Force Secretariat in the Pentagon. Prior to his retirement in 1999 at the rank of lieutenant colonel, he served as chief of advanced planning of the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, responsible for initial planning of EELV and other new launch operations at Cape Canaveral. After his retirement from the Air Force he worked for a private firm analyzing space launch failures and performing other safety analyses related to both ground processing and in-flight mishaps.