Col. Hanson is the Air and Space Force Advisor to the President, Air Force Element Commander, Military Professor of National Security Affairs and George C. Kenney Professor of Air & Space Warfare Chair at the U.S. Naval War College. She is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Central Michigan University, and National Defense University. She served most recently as the 305th Air Mobility Wing Commander and has instructed at the U.S. Air Force C-17 Weapons School, was a Defense and Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) fellow and served in multiple directorates at Headquarters Air Force and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. She is a career command pilot with 3600 flight hours.