Jon Theye - Personal Biography

I was born and raised in New Mexico. I’ve lived in Albuquerque (where I was born), Las Cruces, and Los Alamos (where I lived from 9 years old until graduating from high school). My father was (retired) an engineer with Los Alamos National Laboratory and my mother is an educator, a Licensed Masters Social Worker (LMSW), and a professional artist. I have two brothers and a sister who have all served in the United States Military (Army and Airforce). I’m married with two kids (boy and girl twins).

I started a number of businesses growing up including raising rabbits as pets when I was 9 years old and starting my own lawn care business with a friend when I was 13 years old. I continued to run my landscaping business until high school graduation but I also worked for Los Alamos National Laboratory the summer before my senior year. In high school I ran on the cross country team, played on the chess team, and was an active member of the local explorer post (part of Boy Scouts of America). After graduating from high school, I was nominated to, and attended West Point in New York studying Information Systems Engineering and Computer Science. While at West Point, I graduated from Air Assault school, served for a month in Korea during (leadership training), served as a cadet platoon sergeant at Camp Buckner, and served as a company and regimental Information Systems Officer.

After graduation from West Point, I was commissioned as an Infantry officer in the United States Army. I attended Infantry Officer Basic Course (IOBC), Mechanized Leaders Course, M2A3 Bradly training, Airborne School, and Ranger School at Fort Benning, GA. After graduating from Ranger School, I was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas with the 4th Infantry Division during which time I spent a year deployed to Iraq as a platoon leader and later as an officer in the S3 element (planning & operations). After returning from my first deployment and spending a few months as a Battalion S1 (Human Resources), I joined the 2nd brigade, 4th ID as the unit transitioned to Fort Carson Colorado. While with 2nd brigade, I served as a battalion S4 (logistics) preparing the unit for deployment then deploying to Iraq. During my second deployment to Iraq, I transitioned back to the S3 (operations & planning). After returning from my second deployment, I was sent back to Fort Benning, GA where I attended the Maneuver Captains Career Course (MCCC). I transitioned out of the Army sooner after completing MCCC.

As I transitioned out of the military, I considered a number of different career moves but ultimately joined Amazon as an area manager in a new building in Phoenix Arizona. I worked with Amazon for nearly a decade in a number of different roles in five different locations in operations, project management, training management, and regional management. I transitioned from the retail side of Amazon to AWS (Amazon Web Services) to pursue my interest in technology and the incredible groundbreaking world of AWS where the company continues to change the world by focusing on the customer and providing the absolute best possible service/options/technology/security/stability/etc. available. Amazon is a great place to work and I’m extremely grateful for the opportunities that the company provided me.

I left Amazon in 2019 and joined Los Alamos National Laboratory where I assumed the role of division director for Safeguards division. The Safeguards division director plays a pivital role in protecting one of the most critical assets in our country.

While working for Amazon, I completed my MBA (with a focus on Project Management) and my M.S. (Information Technology – Security Management) thanks to the GI Bill. I also completed Purdue’s full Six Sigma program including Lean Six Sigma, Six Sigma Green Belt, and Six Sigma Black Belt. I’ve also completed a number of other certifications including PSP (Physical Security Professional from ASIS), AWS Business Professional, and CPR/AED through American Red Cross. While working at Los Alamos National Laboratory, I earned a Masters Certificate in National Security in addition to completing numerous technical training courses.