“The team you lead is the team you’re on.”

A Q&A with Maj. Gen. Greg Gagnon ’94, USSF

BY ANNIE ROSELLO ’94

Major General Gregory J. Gagnon is the deputy chief of space operations for intelligence, U.S. Space Force at the Pentagon. In this capacity, he serves as the senior intelligence officer to the chief of space operations and is responsible to the secretary of the Air Force and chief of space operations for intelligence policy, oversight, and guidance of Space Force intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. He was commissioned through ROTC from Saint Michael’s after his graduation with a degree in economics in 1994.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE A CAREER IN THE MILITARY?

I joined the military to pay for college. I could not have attended St. Mike’s if I didn’t have a ROTC scholarship. My family couldn’t afford it. Then, I chose my profession as an intelligence officer because it was only a four-year commitment, because I planned to go to Wall Street and be a banker. But when I got in the military, I really liked the people I worked with. My wife had grown up in a military family. Each four-year stint and every move just started to [fit] together. I was enjoying what I was doing and it was valuable, so getting up every day, I was excited about going to work. They change my job all the time, it’s always new and different, and I’m constantly learning new things.

WHAT CLASS AT ST. MIKE’S HAD THE BIGGEST IMPACT ON YOU?

Ethics and philosophy have most impacted my decision-making as a military officer. I bring together teams from different branches and try to make them cross- functional. They may have approached a problem five or six times on their own, but that doesn’t have to be the way the group approaches the problem. When you create an environment where everyone can share and be heard, they generally come out with better decisions. I use Plato’s Allegory of the Cave a lot, which describes how you’re a prisoner of your own experience. I never would have thought that first-year requirement was the lesson that would have stuck with me, but it did.

WHAT ELSE SHAPED YOUR EXPERIENCE AT ST. MIKE’S?

I was on the swim team for the first two years. ROTC took up a lot of my time, and I worked as a tutor for the Economics Department. Professionally, it was helpful because that was the first time I had to teach. I was a teacher in the military earlier in my career, and I learned that adults learn differently— some prefer verbal instructions, some need written, some are visual. It’s been very helpful in my career, understanding how people consume information and then playing to their strengths. You never know when you’re going to pick up a skill that you’re going to use forever.

HAS THE LIBERAL ARTS EDUCATION YOU RECEIVED AT ST. MIKE’S HELPED YOU ON YOUR CAREER PATH?

Absolutely. Those who know why will always lead those who know how. Understanding the why is generally about bigger ideas and bigger visions and motivating people. If you can connect someone’s everyday activities to the much grander purpose, that’s one of the things that makes you a good leader.