Lyon recently retired from a major aerospace & defense corporation as the Vice President, Government Relations where he led the Air Force customer relations team. Lyon advised corporate leadership as they competed for and developed capabilities with focus on the Department of the Air Force’s future force structure needs.  He is a five-time commander who led units from squadron through expeditionary task force commands. Lyon served as the initial 9th Air & Space Expeditionary Task Force-Afghanistan commander during the 2010–2011 surge operations.

Lyon has over 40 years of aerospace & defense experience including 3,800 flight hours; predominately in the F-16 and B-1. He amassed over 1,110 combat hours in Operations ENDURING FREEDOM, IRAQI FREEDOM, ALLIED FORCE, NORTHERN WATCH, SOUTHERN WATCH, and PROVIDE COMFORT. Lyon was the Air Force’s first senior officer to qualify as a remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) mission pilot where he flew MQ-1 Predator combat support missions in support of DoD and other government agencies.

His most recent focus includes developing concepts for multi-domain operations in highly contested environments. He is an airpower advocate with extensive expertise and experience in joint warfighting, command & control, doctrine, operational capabilities development (JCIDS), realistic training, and defense programming (PPBE).

Lyon holds a B.A. in Mathematics from The Citadel and an M.S. in National Security Strategy from the National War College. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, and Bronze Star Medals for combat operations in the U.S. Europe/Africa/Central Commands’ areas of responsibility.