Jake Thundy

Jake Thundy
Secretary of Defense
In office November 15, 2019 – February 22, 2020
President	Valerie d.a.barchipelago MichiganLefty
Preceded by	Rincewind
Governor of the Northern State
In office November 29, 2019 – February 3, 2020
Preceded by	Computerguy15
Succeeded by	Garland
Lieutenant Governor for the Northern State
In office November 19, 2019 – November 29, 2019
Governor	Computerguy15
Preceded by	Computerguy15
Director of National Intelligence
In office August 11, 2019 – November 15, 2019
President	LOTR JMP Patty
Preceded by	Apex
United States Representative for NS-05
In office September 12, 2019 – November 8, 2019
Personal Details
Born	(1968-09-25) September 25, 1968 Nutley, New Jersey
Political party	Independent
Spouse(s)	Marta Meterra (m. 1999)
Children	2
Education	United States Air Force Academy (MS) Rutgers University (PhD)
Military service
Nickname(s)	"Skittles"
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Air Force
Years of service	1990–2014
Rank	Lt. Col
Unit	8th Fighter Squadron
Battles/wars	1999 NATO Bombing of Yugoslavia Iraq War

Jacob William Thundy is an American politician and aerospace engineer who served as Secretary of Defense and as Governor for the North. Prior to becoming the Secretary of Defense, Thundy was a former Congressman from NS-5 and served on the House Judiciary Oversight Committee and the Foreign Affairs Armed Services Intelligence Committee. From the 19th to 29th of November 2019, he served as Lieutenant Governor of the North before being sworn in as Governor. Thundy served under three administrations as the Director of National Intelligence, under LOTR, Patty, and JMP. Thundy is often described as a moderate in domestic policy.

Before entering politics, Thundy served in the U.S. Air Force as a test pilot and fighter pilot. He worked in the private sector as an engineer for now-defunct aerospace firm Orbital ATK. In 2019, he earned his PhD in aerospace engineering from Rutgers. Thundy is a graduate from the United States Air Force Academy.

Early life and Education

Thundy was born in Nutley, New Jersey, on September 25, 1965, at home. He is the son of Robert Thundy, a mechanical engineer and an F-86 pilot during the Korean War, and Virginia Di Marco, an Italian immigrant and fashion designer, who she met while he was stationed at Aviano Air Base, Italy. The family settled in Robert's home town, Nutley, and Jake Thundy grew up in his father's family's home, attended the local high school. In his adolescent years, Thundy participated in Boys' State (where he became Governor), became a Cadet Commander in Civil Air Patrol, and gained his private pilots' license. He graduated in 1986 as valedictorian from Nutley High School.

Thundy accepted an appointment to the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In his four years in Colorado, Thundy played on the Academy's club water polo team, became an active cadet leader and joined the Wings of Blue, USAFA's skydiving team. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering in 1990, and staying an extra year to complete his MS degree.

Military Career

After graduating from USAFA, Thundy was selected for pilot training, and after gaining his commission, Thundy graduated from Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) class 92-03 at Columbus Air Force Base, MS after a year of training on the T-37 and T-38 aircraft. He described UPT as "the most fun I'll never want to have again." After graduating, he was selected to transfer to the F-16C at Aviano Air Base in Italy. Two years later, he was selected to fly the F-117A Nighthawk stealth attack aircraft and transferred to Holloman Air Force base for training.

Thundy flew as an F-117A pilot during the UN and subsequent NATO operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Operation Allied Force, and ended the war as a Captain with the Air Force. After subsequent combat in Operation Desert Fox and Iraqi Freedom, he applied to and was accepted to the Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, graduating in class 04A in early 2004. Thundy worked closely with the F-35 program at Edwards; it was under this job where Thundy began to think about his career outside the Air Force. With the relationships built working with the U.S. military procurement process on the Joint Strike Fighter program, Thundy became motivated to enter policy after ending his military career. He was concerned with the procurement process and a became spoken advocate for industry reform. Although critical of the JSF Program, he remained confident in the finished product. Thundy was honorably discharged in 2014 as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force after 28 years of service.

Business Career

Thundy accepted a career as an aerospace engineer at Orbital ATK after their merger in 2015 and contributed to the Pegasus rocket program. His experience working with the engineering process during his career as a test pilot allowed him to advance quickly in the company. While working at ATK, Thundy became a part-time college professor and began his doctorate program for Aerospace engineering at Rutgers University, which he graduated from in early 2019. After working at Orbital ATK for 3 years, Thundy left his engineering work and entered into politics. Thundy turned down a high-paying job offer at firm Lockheed Martin before his NS-4 Congressional run.

Political Career

Thundy began his political career after leaving the military and the private sector. At the time, Thundy was a registered Republican. As a member of the GOP, Thundy entered the July 2019 Federal Election against incumbent Juan-Escobar Mendoza, and lost 45-55. After the victory of the LOTR campaign in August, Thundy accepted the request from President LOTR to serve as the Director of National Intelligence, marking Thundy's first entrance into the White House and Federal politics. In the August NS-6 Special election, Thundy lost again to candidate Rufflez 53-46, but won against candidate Presidente in the September Federal Elections, sending him to the U.S. House of Representatives. Thundy ran his campaign on integrity, infrastructure, and veterans' care.

After the collapse of the Republican Party and the resignation of President LOTR, Thundy served as Director of National intelligence under the new JMP administration. Thundy's stance as an independent was short-lived, and he joined the newly founded Federalist party along with his Republican partners. During this time, Thundy served on the House Judicial Oversight committee. He continued to serve as DNI under the JMP administration, however tensions began to rise between Thundy and the Federalist Party over foreign policy. Thundy decided to finally leave the Federalist Party and go independent after the signing of an executive order denouncing and exiting the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Following the November Federal Election and the election of President MichiganLefty, Thundy was offered and accepted the position of Secretary of Defense. This was a controversial nomination, as Federalist foreign policy was in staunch contrast to Thundy's pro-NATO views. After a tied vote in the U.S. Senate, Thundy was confirmed after a tie-breaker from Vice President d.a.barchipelago. The Lefty administration's controversial decision to reverse President Patty's executive order threw Thundy into the spotlight, as began significant debate over possible violations of the War and Peace Act of 2018. On November 21, 2019, Thundy registered with the Labor party.

Following his Memo "21st Century Strategy for Protecting American Freedom", there was intense controversy over the interpretation of its stances on hypersonic weapons proliferation and future cooperation or reform in the Five Eyes intelligence sharing alliance. Thundy is a staunch supporter of American international cooperation with NATO partners and allies, believing that strong relationships with Western nations will protect Western values around the world.

After ComputerGuy15 was removed from the office of Governor of the Northern State through a Vote of No Confidence resolution on November 29th, 2019, Thundy became the Governor of the Northern State. As Governor, he subsequently passed the Northern Congress Oversight Act of 2019, pocket-vetoed during the previous administration. Thundy supported a bill which closed that loophole later during his term. Thundy was governor during the New Years' storm, which wreaked havoc on the eastern seaboard with multiple feet of snow. Later in January, he co-sponsored the Clark-Thundy Election Integrity Act, meant to further defend Northern elections from political warfare threats. The bill was signed into law on the 21 January 2020. On 30 January, he switched party affiliation from Labor to becoming a party official in the new Bull-Moose party, and subsequently the American Liberal party. He did not announce an intent to run for gubernatorial re-election, and subsequently retired from politics, returning home to New Jersey.