Bio
Major Sarah Bolton is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer and Cyber Sciences at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She instructs over 120 cadets per year and is responsible for educating, training, and inspiring men and women to become officers of character upon graduation and commissioning as second lieutenants.
After 11 years as an enlisted Airborne Spanish Cryptologic Linguist where she flew on the EC-130H COMPASS CALL and the RC-135 RIVET JOINT, Major Bolton commissioned into the United States Air Force through Officer Training School in March 2013. Upon graduation from Cyberspace Operations School, she was assigned to the 90th Communications Squadron, Francis E. Warren AFB, Wyoming where she served as the Officer in Charge of the Network Control Center and the Deputy Flight Commander of the Information Operations and Plans flight.
In 2016, she was selected to attend the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio where she graduated with a Master of Science in Computer Science with a focus on Artificial Intelligence. While there, her research focused on using electroencephalography (EEG) signals and other cognitive measures to determine the effect on the brain of varying lighting conditions.
Upon graduation, Major Bolton served as the Flight Commander for Network Operations at the Space Test and Training Range, 25th Space Range Squadron, Schriever AFB, Colorado. She led a team of seven systems and network administrators who were responsible for delivering communications to Space Test and Training range customers which provided a safe and secure environment to support space control technique development and space test, training and exercise activities. Following her assignment at the Space Test and Training Range, Major Bolton returned to the Air Force Institute of Technology, where she graduated with a PhD in Computer Science with a research emphasis in artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Education
Bachelor of Science, Computer Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (2012)
Master of Science, Computer Science, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH (2018)
Squadron Officer School, Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, AL (2019)
Doctor of Philosophy, Computer Science, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH (2023)
Professional Experience
Basic Trainee, 323rd Training Squadron, Lackland AFB, TX (Aug 2001 – Sep 2001)
Cryptologic Language Analyst Trainee, 311th Training Squadron, Defense Language Institute/Foreign Language Center, Presidio of Monterey, CA (Sep 2001 – Jul 2002)
Cryptologic Language Analyst Trainee, 316th Training Squadron, Goodfellow AFB, TX (Jul 2002-Mar 2003)
Spanish Cryptologic Language Analyst, 97th Intelligence Squadron, Offutt AFB, NE (Mar 2003-Dec 2005)
EC-130H Mission Crew Supervisor, 41st Electronic Combat Squadron, Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ (Dec 2005-Oct 2008)
55 Electronic Combat Group Language Program Manager, 755th Operational Support Squadron, Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ (Oct 2008-Aug 2010)
Airman Education and Commissioning Program Student, Air Force ROTC Detachment 020, University of Arizona, AZ (Aug 2010-Dec 2012)
Officer Trainee, Officer Training School, Maxwell AFB, AL (Jan 2013-Mar 2013)
Cyberspace Operations Student, 333rd Training Squadron, Keesler AFB, MS (Apr 2013-Nov 2013)
Information Operations and Plans Flight Commander, 90th Communications Squadron, Francis E. Warren AFB, WY (Nov 2013-Aug 2016)
Graduate Student, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH (Aug 2016-Mar 2018)
Flight Commander, Network Operations, 25th Space Range Squadron, Schriever AFB, CO (Apr 2018-Aug 2020)
PhD Student, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH (Aug 2020 – Sep 2023)
Assistant Professor, Department of Computer and Cyber Science, United States Air Force Academy, Colorado (Sep 2023 – Present)
Honors & Awards
Air Medal with oak leaf cluster
Aerial Achievement Medal with oak leaf cluster
Air Force Commendation Medal with three oak leaf clusters
Joint Service Commendation Medal
Air Force Achievement Medal with three oak leaf clusters
Publications
Bolton, S., Dill, R., Grimaila, M.R. et al. ADS-B classification using multivariate long short-term memory–fully convolutional networks and data reduction techniques. J Supercomputing 79, 2281–2307 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11227-022-04737-4
S. Bolton, R. Dill, M. R. Grimaila and D. D. Hodson, “Multi-Sensor Aircraft Classification,” 2023 Congress in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, & Applied Computing (CSCE), Las Vegas, NV, USA, 2023, pp. 796-800, doi: 10.1109/CSCE60160.2023.00136.
S. Bolton, R. Dill, M. R. Grimaila and D. D. Hodson, “Aircraft Classification Using Flight Phase Identification,” NAECON 2023 – IEEE National Aerospace and Electronics Conference, Dayton, OH, USA, 2023, pp. 192-197, doi: 10.1109/NAECON58068.2023.10365795.