Burt earned her commission in 1991 as a distinguished graduate of the Air Force ROTC program at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. She is also a distinguished graduate and former instructor of the U.S. Air Force Weapons School and a graduate of the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies. She is a career space operations officer with numerous satellite operations and staff positions in U.S. Air Force Space Command and U.S. European Command. In 2021, Burt transferred to the U.S. Space Force, where she served a dual-hat role as U.S. Space Command’s commander of Combined Force Space Component Command and vice commander of the Space Force’s Space Operations Command.

She culminated her career as the deputy chief of space operations for operations, cyber, and nuclear from 2022 to 2025. She was the first female major general and second female general officer in the Space Force.