Mr. Thielen received his BS in 1986 from the University of Minnesota, MN and his Master’s in Business Administration from Golden Gate University in 1992. He was commissioned in 1986 and attended navigator training. He served as a Weapon Systems Officer in F-4E/Gs and F-15Es in the Philippines, Alaska, Virginia, and England with 2500 hours of flight time in fighter aircraft. He is an Operation Allied Force and Operation Enduring Freedom Veteran and served in assignments on the Inspector General Team and as an Operations Squadron Commander for the Alaskan Region of North American Aerospace Defense before retiring in 2007. He came to the Minneapolis VAHCS as the Director of the Business Office and during that time has served in numerous national and network capacities. He is a graduate of Leadership VA in 2011.